Xander and the Ferula-Gemini
by Kerrain
Summary: What should have happened when Xander was hit with the Ferula-Gemina in Episode 81. I have set it to T because not sure where it will go.
1. Chapter 1

Notes For purposes of this Fic the events take place before episode 71, "This Year's Girl"

I have also placed a challenge on TTHM for this concept.

Challenge-8460

Ok this challenge is simple. Xander and magic do not go together see the love spell or Willow trying to kill Xander on Kingmans Bluff. So why would the Ferula Gemini simply split Xander into weak and strong as intended? This is a opportunity to pull some of those YAFH Xanders from mixed verses into the Buffy verse without writing up a whole YAFH.

Rules.

1\. Xander's double is not the vanilla Xander. He is from a different verse. Could be a Marvel or DC version of Xander. Could be from another fanfiction all together. He could be crossed with any of them. But he has something unique to him that in terms of the Buffy Verse make him more than normal.

2\. No permanent Slash. Please if the alt Xander is gay thats cool but Xander from Buffy Verse was not and so the thought of himself being gay should wig him out. Or finding out that his double hit on someone and having to deal with the fallout.

3\. Resolution is not simple this is Xander so something will be left behind but not as strong as the Alt Xander. IE to use rule two after merge he might find himself bi curious but wigged by it. Or if he was Superman Xander the left over would be at best something along the lines of Superboy a.k.a. Conner Kent.

4\. Since this episode was really a filler it can take place at anytime prior to its place in season five. Although please have it be post Kendra. Her character was just too wooden. And Faith was a lot more fun.

5\. Alt Xander should have drastically different reaction to the situation he comes from another universe where things that are normal for him are missing. IE if he was from Dresden Verse there are no white cloaks or the council enforcing the rules of magic and uh oh Willow has broken those rules.

Pairings.

No Buffy/Xander if it is post Angelus. Or Willow/Xander anything else good to go.

Preferred pairings Xander/Cordy or Xander/Faith.

Disclaimer .. I do not own Buffy The Vampire Slayer nor any of the Characters associated with it. I do not own M.A.S.H. nor any character from it. I do not own anything you might recognize. If I did I probably would not be doing this.

Plea: This is my first fanfic for Buffy please be gentle. I appreciate constructive feedback but if you really want to flame please just don't. It won't help me write a better story and just makes everyone feel bad.

 **Chapter One; Not with a Bang, But with a White Light.**

"Watch Out!" Xander yells diving between Buffy and whatever the demon was firing. The blast hits him causing a blinding white light. Xander wavers for a moment before falling to the ground.

"Xander" Buffy yells rushing towards him. The others quickly follow. Helping him up Riley asks, "You OK?"

"I'm Fine, except for the blinding white spots, and feeling a bit wiggy." Xander answers. "What was that? I mean as weapons go I don't think it would take you out Buffster."

"Yeah Giles, What was that? I mean was it supposed to do more than the blinding white light? I mean really, sure, some garbage got splodie but it didn't seem to do much to Xander."

"Yes quite. I imagine that it may either have been designed to only really harm you Buffy or perhaps the previous shots depleted its power." Gile responded. "Still I believe more research is in order. Perhaps we should meet at the Magic Shop early tomorrow to keep researching."

As the others look at each other it is obvious that this is not a great idea.

"Sorry Giles but I have work tomorrow and if I ever want to get out of my parents place I need this job."

"Yes and Buffy and I have classes tomorrow so early is out," Willow responds. " But how about in the afternoon? We could do it then."

"Fine I will expect you all in the afternoon, whilst I will try to see if I can find anything about this particular demon and this weapon before you arrive."

"Great, you're the best watcher a slayer could ask for Giles," responds Buffy. As the group continues walking out Xander stumbles almost falling. Willow looking concerned quickly grabs Xander's arm "Xander what's wrong."

"I..Just a little dizzy I guess that hit was harder than I though. But you know me a bit of sleep and I'll be raring to go."

Willow still looking suspicious glares at Xander, "You better be. If you feel any worse make sure to call me, mister! I mean it!"

"Sure Wills no problem you know me I'll be fine just need some sleep." Willow looking partially mollified continues walking out with the rest of the gang. "You better Mister!"

As the gang leaves no one sees behind them on the same spot where Xander was hit a glowing blue light shimmer briefly before a battered and bruised Xander Harris appears. He is staggering and bloody and manages to call out "Faith" right before falling unconscious to the ground.

As Xander sleeps that night he tosses and turns and moans in his sleep, " Faith no, Watch Out!" Anya hearing the moaning wakes up and hearing Xander call Faith's name, shakes him trying to wake him up. "Xander!" Getting no response she Shakes him harder yelling, "Xander Wake up!" As Xander startles awake, from upstairs the Drunken voice of Tony Harris yell, "Shut the Hell up! If I have to come down there I will beat your ass you worthless peice of Shit."

Xander awake now, just shakes his head while mumbling sarcastically, "Wow love you too Dad." Anya looks at him with a glare, "Why were you calling out that psycho slut bombs name? I mean really she's in a coma and I know you think I don't know but I know you visit her. I mean why? Why would you visit her. Your planning on cheating on me aren't you? You bastard MALE!" As Anya gets more into her diatribe Xander looks stunned and disbelieving as he tries to quiet her down.

"Ahn, Ahn what are you talking about. I am not leaving you or cheating on you. I swear. Ok calm down please. What do you mean I was calling out Faith's name?" Even as he speaks, Xander freezes up as bits and pieces of his nightmare flash through his mind. Faith laughing and kissing him, then a something a Demon of some kind materializes out of nowhere and it has something in its hand,.. a glowing ball? It throws it at Faith, who had her back turned, and he hears himself yelling, "Faith no, Watch Out!" He pushes her out of the way and then he feels pain as the glowing, energy hit him. Suddenly he is screaming. Anya looks at him his entire body is frozen in pain as his screams tear out of his mouth. It seems to continue forever as he suddenly falls back and begins to twitch violently, his eyes rolling up and his body spasming.

From upstairs the sound of Tony Harris comes, as he opens the door yelling, "I warned you, you useless bastard." Anya looks up at him as Xander continues to convulse, " "Shut up," She screams. "Something is wrong with Xander. Call an ambulance. Now!" Tony looks like he is about to argue then seeing the look in Anya's eyes something inside of him quails, as if the small hindbrain is saying, " _No No don't want to die. Better do what she says_."

While waiting for the ambulance Anya quickly calls Giles. After the fifth wring a tired and slightly upset Giles answers. "What, who is this calling me at four in the bloody morning?"

Anya, Quickly responds, " Giles its Anya, something is wrong with Xander! He was screaming and now there is twitching and the ambulance is not here yet. How long does it take for them to get here?"

Giles quickly finds his he hears what was happening to Xander. As Anya continues to babel he interrupts. " Anya calm down please now tell me again what happened to Xander and why are you waiting on an ambulance?" This cuts through Anya's panic and she starts again.

"Xander was moaning and dreaming and he called out Faith's name and then when I woke him because obviously he was cheating then he started screaming and passed out. And it probably serves him right because he is a cheating Bastard. Obviously he was cheating on me with Faith."

As Anya continues to rant Giles breaks in again. ""Anya I am sure that Xander was not cheating on you. Did he tell you why he called out Faith's name? Perhaps he was remembering something."

Anya really not listening just snorts as she says, "Sure I bet he was remembering something. Like the time that slut had her way with him." The more she thinks about it the angrier she gets. As she is talking the ambulance arrives. As the paramedics come in she can hear Xander's dad yelling about the no good worthless piece of shit is downstairs and something in her resonates.  
" _He is a no good worthless piece of Male. Obviously he wants to cheat on me. ME ANYANKA. No that is not happening._ "

Giles not hearing anything asks, "Anya please what is going on?"

"What is going on Giles? I'll tell you what is going on I am done with this cheating worthless MALE. If or when he wakes up I won't be here anymore!" Anya yells into the phone as she hangs up on Giles.

Giles from the other end, can only stare mutely as the call disconnects. As quickly as possible he tries calling back but Anya does not answer. Realizing that the former vengeance demon might have left Xander helpless he quickly gets dressed and as he is dressing calls Joyce.

Whilst she might not be the boy's real mother he knows that she cares deeply for him. She can also call the others and get them to the hospital.

Fifteen minutes later a rough looking Rupert Giles pulls up to Xander's house. Not seeing the ambulance there he quickly rushes to the door and pounds on it. A few moments later Jessica Harris opens the door. She looks half asleep and half drunk. "What do you want?" she slurs.

"Yes sorry to disturb you but I received a call saying that Xander was in trouble something about an ambulance."

Jessica snorts and says, "They're already gone and you can get the hell out too. Also if you see that useless bastard at the hospital tell him he's not welcome here anymore." The last is finished with a yell as Jessica slams the door shut on Giles. Giles shakes his head as he walks back to his car baffled at the way Xander's parent seems to be acting. Whilst he had suspected that Xander's home life was not ideal he never thought it could be as bad as his brief introduction to Jessica Harris made it appear.

Arriving at the hospital Giles is slightly surprised to see Buffy, Joyce, Willow and Willow's Friend Tara heading in as he gets out of his car. Quickly walking inside Giles is assaulted by Buff, Willow and Joyce. Buffy and Willow talking at once, " Giles what's going on" "What happened to Xander?" "Was he attacked by something?" "Is this because of what happened earlier?"

As the girls talk over each other without leaving a pause for Giles to answer Joyce calls out. "Quiet Girls. Let Rupert speak." Both Willow and Buffy look sheepishly as they realize that they had been talking over Giles instead of letting him answer questions. 

As everyone looked to Giles he cleared his throat, "Urm, well yes. I received a call from Anya that something had happened to Xander. Although she was not clear on what and then she started yelling about cheating males and hung up." Even as Giles was speaking he realized mentioning Faith's name would not be beneficial and might distract both the girls from the issue at hand. "I suggest we ask the Doctors if they can tell us anything." Everyone nodded headed towards the nurse's desk. While normally you could not get any information out of hospital personnel, this was Sunnydale and even trying the staff of the hospital could not completely block out what happens nightly. This did have an added benefit as they were also marginally aware that the people before them would usually be bringing in people who had been victims of wild animal attacks or barbecue fork accidents.

Walking up to the desk nurse Nakahara, a woman who looked to be in her sixties smiled at them, "How can I help you?" the elderly nurse of asian descent asked.

Joyce smiled at her and said, "Please can you tells us where to find Xander Harris, he was brought in a short while ago and we really need to know if he was alright?"

Nurse Kelly as she thought of herself, quickly asked, "Was this a ' **animal or gang attack** ' ?"

Giles and the girls quickly reassured her that as far as they knew this was not the case. Kelly nodded and picking up several papers looked at them, "Well so far I am afraid I can't tell you much. Xander is still being examined by our paramedics. I am sorry to say ever since Doctor Pierce passed away finding a Doctor to work the night shift has been difficult. But if you wait here I will see what I can find out. I know that it's not policy but I also know you two girls and that young man have brought in a lot of victims who might not have survived if you didn't get them here." Everyone nodded as Kelly finished speaking and Joyce looked both sad and very proud as she looked at her daughter and Willow.

As the nurse left to find out what she could for them everyone was quiet then Buffy looked around and asked, "Giles where is Anya? I thought you said she was with Xander but she is not here."

Taking of his glasses Giles began to polish them, "Yes well I really could not say where Anya is she began yelling about cheating males and hung up on me before I could find out everything that had happened. The only thing I know for sure is that Xander was having some kind of a nightmare shortly before whatever happened to him happened."

Both Buffy and Willow looked shocked and mumbled to each other "Cheating Males?" " No way. Xander would never let something like that happen after the last time." Joyce nodded as she listened to the girls. Tara hearing this but not familiar with the background spoke up. "Ma . someone should fffind Anya and try and learn more about what ."

Giles nodded partially relieved to be able to push off some of the possible problems, "Yes that is a capitol idea Tara. Although I believe it would be best if perhaps Joyce and myself seek to talk to Anya since I believe Buffy and Willow are not the closest to her and if she is truly angry at Xander she may not speak to them as they are his friends first and foremost." As Giles said this Buffy and Willow both had fleeting guilty looks go over their faces, and Joyce nodded. As Joyce opened her mouth the nurse returned.

Walking back into the waiting room Nurse Nakahara, did not look to be the bearer of glad tidings. As she approached the group she started to explain what the paramedics had found so far. " I am sorry but I'm afraid I do not have good news. When the ambulance arrived they found your friend moaning in pain and unresponsive to outside stimulus. Since he arrived here that has not changed, he is passing in and out of consciousness. Pain medication seems to have no effect on him. Currently if something does not change soon we may need to put him into a medically induced coma before irreputable harm comes to him because of whatever is happening." Hearing this everyone was shocked Willow started to cry and turned to Tara, her head buried on Tara's shoulder. Buffy looked angry and Joyce looked stunned.

Giles looked at the nurse and said,"Thank you for letting us know, is there anyway I could try to speak to Xander perhaps he might be able to tell me something that would help."

The nurse nodded. "You know I shouldn't do that but I will sneak you back to talk with him. I may not know everything that goes on in this town but as I know that everything here is not normal." Giles nodded his thanks as Nurse Nakahara lead him back to where Xander was lying in a bed.

As he walked in Xander's entire body was rigid as if he was riding a wave of pain. Giles felt his heart lock up as the boy he considered in many ways a son was obviously in so much pain. Sitting down beside his bed Giles began to speak, " Xander, I know you are in pain my boy, and we will do everything we can to help you, but I need to know anything you can tell me about what happened. Anya said you called out Faith's name before this started. What happened?"

As the wave of pain passed Xander panted and looked up at Giles. In a faltering voice he said," D..don't know." Even while trying to speak it was obvious that the boy was in a great deal of pain. "Ah. ah..Demon attacked."

Giles nodded trying to elicit more information, "A demon attacked you? It caused this?"

Xander, Struggling to respond, "Vision, demon attacked Faith." As he finished saying Faiths name a scream of pain tore through him as another wave of pain set in. As Giles watched Xander once again slipped into unconsciousness.

The medical staff quickly pushed Giles aside as the Nurse said to him. "It's getting worse. We are going to have to induce a coma or I don't think he will last the night. Do you know who can authorize that?"

Giles sat stunned for a moment, "His parents did not even care enough to come to the hospital with him. If nothing else I will take responsibility. Please do whatever is needed."

Seeing the look on the man's face Kelly nodded. "I think we can do that we will just need to lose some paperwork." She smiled kindly at Giles as she lead him back out to the others.

Everyone looked up as Giles re-entered the waiting room. The question they all wanted to ask was obvious on their faces. Giles spoke softly as they listened. "He is not doing well," Willow stifled a sob as Giles spoke."However he was able to tell me before he passed out that he had a vision of some kind."

Buffy broke in, "A vision? Giles Xander doesn't get visions he's just normal!" The last almost finished in a shout.

"Yes be that as it may he seems to be reacting to something. He said he saw a demon and in this vision it was attacking,"

Once again Giles was interrupted by Willow this time, "Attacking? Attacking who Xander. Oh my gosh why would a demon attack Xander. I mean he can't do anything. Wouldn't a demon want to attack Buffy. Because Buffy is the Slayer and Xander is Just Normal and why would the demon go after Xander.." As the Willow babel got up to speed Joyce broke in.

"Willow please let Rupert finish. Going off half cocked will not help anything." Will paused in mid babel nodding at Mrs. Summers, "Sorry it's just Xander" She said as if that explained it all. Joyce nodded and turned to Giles, "Please continue, Rupert."

Giles taking off his glasses and beginning to clean them said, "Yes well as I was saying Xander said that in his vision he saw a demon attacking," he paused know that neither Buffy nor Willow would react well to the next part. "Attacking Faith"

As expected neither girl's reaction was pleasant. Buffy started looking angry and Willow indignant at the mere mention of the other girl's name. "Faith why would a demon attack Faith? She's evil and bad, and a no good psycho!" Willow stated.

Buffy looked ready to add in her own views on Faith when Tara actually spoke first, "Who's Faith and what did she do that made you hate her so much Willow?" Willow looked startled as Tara asked why she hated Faith. She didn't hate Faith. Faith was just evil and skanky and bad and no good. As she struggled to respond, Giles broke in saving her from possibly embarrassing herself with Tara.

"Faith is a slayer and whilst she may have had problems the truth remains that many demons would be able to find uses for a slayer. Either for rituals or spell ingredients."

"Giles, did Xander say what this demon looked like?" Buffy asked.

"I am sorry Buffy but he was not able to tell me more before he passed out. I believe we need to get to the Magic Shop to start researching. However I am loath to leave Xander and Faith alone if Xander had a true vision then we must watch over them both." Giles answered.

Buffy nodded. "I can stay here tonight while you and Willow go start with the researching."

Joyce spoke up, " I will help as well." Hearing this Buffy opened her mouth to protest but Joyce cut her off. "No Buffy, I am helping Xander has done so much for you and he has always been such a wonderful fine young man. I am helping and that is final."

Hearing her mother's declaration Buffy realized that she was not going to win. Closing her mouth she nodded and then said, "If you like you can stay with me. I think we will have to go back and forth between the two to watch them both." Joyce nodded and smiled.

Meanwhile Nurse Nakahara had been listening the entire time. And finally spoke up, "Are you referring to the young lady Faith? I know Xander visits her regularly." Hearing this Willow, Buffy and even Giles looked surprised. Joyce just looked as if she would expect nothing less.

"Indeed we were referring to Faith Lehane, she and Xander where friends before her accident." Giles replied lying to the nurse.

"Oh I can see that. That young man comes at least once a week and sits with her. Usually reads to her and leaves her flowers." Nurse Nakahara replied. "He really seems to care about her. No one else has ever visited her." The last comment did cause feeling of uncomfortableness in all of them but really only Joyce was honest enough with herself to call it guilt. Because it could have just as easily been Buffy that was lying in a hospital. "While I can't put them in the same room I can move Xander down the hall from her that should help you be close to both of them."

Giles looked relieved at the nurses helpful suggestion. "Yes Quite, that would be very good." He replied. "How soon until Xander is moved up there, Nurse….?" He finished struggling for her name.

"Nurse Nakahara, but please call me nurse Kelly" She replied. "And it may be another hour before we can move him we want to ensure he is stable first." The older woman nodded at the group and then said, "If you wait here as soon as we get ready to move him I will let you know."

Joyce and Buffy nodded. "Thank you nurse Kelly, we'll just wait right here then," Joyce said.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Chapter 2; Morning Suck. Especially on the Hellmouth.

Xander woke up slowly. Surprised to wake up at all. The last thing he remembered was the energy ball being launched at Faith. With that thought he opened his eyes. The early morning pre dawn sunlight showed him an unfamiliar sight. Garbage, lots and lots of garbage. Slowly he got up. Checking himself he saw where he should have been hurt seriously or worse dead he wasn't. The minor wounds on his side looked days old. _"Well thank God for Whitelighter healing, but seriously, What the hell is going on?"_ he thought. "Last thing I remember I was with Faith, we were out celebrating and then the demon shimmered in. Launched the attack at Faith. I remember getting hit with it. But how the hell did I get here and where is here?" he mumbled to himself. "OK, First thing first I need to find out where I am and if Faith is alright." Looking at the remains of his shirt and scorched pants he went on, "Also need some new clothes, before these fall off."

"So, no need to panic. I'll just orb home and get changed. Then look for Faith. After all worse thing that can happen is I embarrass myself." Putting action to words Xander began to orb turning into glowing blue lights he flew into the air. Only moments later he rematerialized in the same spot. "What the hell?" He exclaimed when he saw he had not moved. "OK maybe panic might be a good idea. Can't orb home but can I still Orb?" He quickly looked to the front of the junkyard he was in and decided to orb outside the fence. Standing outside the fence he was relieved to see his powers were still working.

Maybe it's time to call for some help he thought. "Leo, buddy can you give me a hand he called out." It was strange normally when he called to another whitelighter you could sense that they were there. This time he didn't hear anything. He strained his senses listening for anything from his charges or the elders or other whitelighters. Silence was all he heard. "OK full blown weirdness. I can't orb home no one is answering the whitelighter phone and I have no idea where I am. Or more importantly where Faith is."

Looking around he saw that the sign in front of the junkyard read Sunnydale. His mind froze. "No way not possible. Sunnydales been gone for years." He was truly beginning to panic because if he had travelled through time, well the angels of Destiny tended to frown on that. And make life a living hell for anyone who upset their plans. Not that he minded upsetting their plans when he could. Still he needed information and if nothing else maybe the Elders could help. Putting thought to deed he orbed to the Elders domain.

At the same time across town at the magic shop. Willow jerked awake as the book she had been leaning against fell to the floor. This in turn caused both Tara and Giles to wake up. While Giles looked upset at the shoddy treatment of his books he refrained from saying anything as he too had fallen asleep while researching.

Standing up he said,"Right I think we need some strong tea or coffee if we are going to get anything done. As it stands we do not know nearly enough about what happened, what kind of demon may be after Faith and how that could have affected Xander."

Willow and Tara both nodded. While Tara was feeling a bit uncomfortable being around Giles she was pleased that Willow wanted her there. Willow as she shook her head started going over the facts they did have. Slowly it seemed one thought percolated through her mind. "Giles, last night Xander was hit by that demon thing. Could that have caused the vision. I mean we don't have anything else just demon and attack and Faith but really that's too vague and Xander never had visions before he was hit by the demon thing and maybe that's what it was meant to do because if Buffy was hit by it and in pain and seeing things then it would be easy for the demon to take her out and maybe that's why Xander said Faith because Buffy is OK and the demon needs a slayer and Faith would be easy to get to, although why wouldn't he have just taken Faith in the first place. That really doesn't make any sense."

The more she talked the faster Willow sped up. Unfortunately even after years of knowing her Giles was not fluent in Willow babel. So most of what he understood was _"Last night Xander was hit by the demon thing."_ "Willow please slow down, take a deep breath and repeat what you said because I am afraid I did not understand you."

Tara nodded at the now blushing Willow, "You were going really fast there. I mean I barely understood anything."

Willow nodded then slowly reiterated her previous points. Giles nodded as he now understood where she was heading, "Well it is possible that the reason the demon went after Buffy was for the challenge. After all many demons consider themselves warriors and it may have wanted to take out Buffy as she would be more of a challenge. However I do believe that we should try and find this demon as it is the only thing that has happened recently that might have triggered Xanders vision and done this to him" Willow and Tara both nodded at this. Giles continued, "Willow perhaps you could go and get us something to eat and check in with Buffy and Joyce at the hospital. Whilst I shall look for more information about the demon. Luckily with him attacking me here if I can find him I shall. I may have to resort to calling in addition help if I can not find him."

"Additional help, Mr. Giles?" Tara asked.

"Yes, If I have not found the information we need by later this morning I shall have to call Wesley. Whilst he is a bit of a pratt the man does know his demons. At least he does if he has read about them."

While Tara did not know who Wesley was it was obvious Giles was not a fan of his. Turning to look at Willow, Willow mouthed to her, "Tell you later" Tara nodded and said, "How about Willow and I go get some breakfast, we can also stop at the hospital and bring something to Buffy and Mrs. Summers. Then right back here."

Giles nodded as he started going through his books, "Yes thank you Tara. That sounds like a brilliant plan." The girls seeing he was already occupied grabbed their purses and headed out.

Arriving at the domain of the Elders, Xander found himself alone. What's more nothing looked quite right. It was the same yet subtly different. As his mind tried to process what he was seeing, he started looking around to try and understand where he was and where the Elders where. Walking through the deserted corridors and rooms it felt as if no one had been here in a long time. The feeling was truly hard to define. Because being a heavenly place the rooms had no dust or any signs of decay in them.

"What the hell is going on?" Xander muttered to himself. He was really fighting to not panic by now. Nothing was right Sunnydale was back. And the Elders and other whitelighters were gone. Also he could not sense Faith or his other charges. Making his way towards the main scrying room, Xander was relieved to see that the pool of visions was still there.

"OK now we can get somewhere," Xander stated with a hint of excitement in his voice. "Show me where Leo Wyatt is," He commanded the pool. The pool waivered for a moment. The the rippling water cleared showing a tombstone with the inscription

Leo Wyatt

Born May 6th 1924

Died; December 1st 1942

"Greater Love Has No Man Than He Gives His Life In Service to His Brothers"

Xander felt himself falling to his knees. "Not possible, Leo died yes but he became a whitelighter. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!" he screamed to the empty room. The pool seemed to shimmer and started to react to this question. Much too fast for Xander to be able to follow images appeared. Flashes of demons, champions and ordinary people faded in and out of the pool. The chaotic nature of whatever the pool was trying to show Xander started building up. Even if he could not quite comprehend what he was seeing. Xander knew he need to stop what was happening before something exploded. "STOP," Xander cried out. This caused the pool to slowly stop its violent churning motions. Within a minute it returned to its calm clear state reflecting the ceiling above.

Xander took several minutes to think, thankfully he was no longer the rash, impetuous youth he had once been. Years of fighting the dark forces of the Source, The First and the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart had taught him the importance of looking at every possible angle when confronted with a new situation. Granted that hadn't stopped him from pushing Faith out of the way of that demon attack but nothing would prevent him from trying to save his loved ones. "Whatever is going on here I need help. Because this sure as hell is not my home." He mused. "Preferably magical help and when it comes to the mojo, no one beats the Halliwells." Turning back to the pool he once more addressed it but having realized at best he was in at best a alternate dimension and at worst maybe some alternate timeline created by a vengeance demon. He said, "Show me the most powerful witch of the Warren line." Should be vague enough to get something without going overboard. The pool rippled for almost a minute before it revealed a young blond woman. She was dressed in modest almost earth mother type clothing that looked like they had been slept in. She appeared to be waiting on someone standing outside of a bathroom in a Double Meat Palace.

"Well that helps but it doesn't," mused Xander. "At least it confirms the Warren line is still around but if any of the P's were here it should have shown them" Pausing for a moment Xander cleared the scrying pool once again."Alright now for the big question," He said to himself. "Show me Faith."

This time the pools surface only took moments to bring an answer. Looking at it he saw Faith. Lying in a hospital bed. Tubes, and an IV hooked up to looked like she had been there for a long time the only things in the room with her where some flowers and a small stuffed snoopy doll dressed in leather.

Xander felt as if his heart was breaking what had happened. Why was Faith in a hospital? As these questions ran through his mind, he quickly decided it doesn't matter. "Hold on Faith, I'll be right there." He said orbing out of the room he was in.

Standing outside of the bathroom of the Double Meat Palace, Tara waited for Willow to finish her business so they could order the food to take to everyone. As Willow walked out she looked at her girlfriend and sighed. "Tara thank you so much for being here with me. I don't know what I would have done without you here." She started to continue, her voice getting choked up as she thought of Xander lying in a hospital bed. Her eyes began to tear up as well.

Tara seeing Willow so upset quickly reached out and embraced her. "It's going to be alright. Sweetie you just have to hold on and believe. We'll find out what did this and get Xander fixed."

As she said that Willow snorted as she could hear Xander's voice in her head saying he did not want to be fixed. That in uncertain terms was anyone supposed to fix him. The absurdity of the thought caused will to actually laugh as some of the grief and anxiety seemed to drain away in Tara's embrace. Wiping the tears that were forming from her eyes, Willow kissed Tara. It was in this moment she truly realized she had fallen in love with the young wicka. "I love you Tara, please don't let me go." She said as she leaned into her.

"I won't," Tara said. "But I think we still need to get everyone something to eat and get back to the Magic Shop to work with Mr. Giles."

Willow nodded as she let her (dare she think it) girlfriend go. "You're right we better get the food and get going." Nodding to Tara they went to get the food.

Walking alright pacing up and down the corridor of the hospital Joyce Summers was think deep thought. Buffy was asleep in a chair by Xander's side. And at this moment Joyce was alone with her thoughts, but not sure she liked where her mind was going. Last night when everyone had been here learning about Xander's condition and hearing how both Buffy and Willow seemed to call him the 'normal' one caused her to reflect. She was going over snippets and off hand comments she had heard both of them used since graduation that seemed to always be putting Xander down. Or at the very least marginalizing what he had done for everyone. While she knew she did not know everything, she knew it was Xander who had built the bomb to take care of the mayor. And she knew that when Buffy was lying sick in this very hospital it had been Xander who stayed overnight watching her. At the time she hadn't known about Angelus and what was going on but when she got to the hospital after returning early from her buying trip, the nurses had commented on what a nice young man Xander was. Staying here with Buffy all night even when that rough looking man had shown up. Now however she knew that Xander had saved her daughter's life again that night. How could those two girls not see what he was? Such an extraordinary young man.

As she paced in thought turning to once again head towards Faith's room other thoughts assailed her. How she had failed to help that young woman and because of that it might have contributed to Faith's going over to the mayor's didn't know everything there but from the way Buffy talked about the man who had died she knew her daughter was leaving things out. And that worried her. Because no matter what she did trust Xander's heart there was no way he would visit someone who was irredeemably evil every week like nurse Kelly had said he did. But to hear Buffy and Willow talk Faith was pure evil. Getting closer to the open door of Faith's room Joyce was surprised to see a bright whitish blue light flash from inside the room. Realizing that whatever that light was it was not natural, She yelled to Buffy, "Buffy wake up something is happening happening in Faith's room!"

Buffy hearing her mother's yell jerked awake. Looking up she quickly got up and sprinted towards the door at full slayer speed. Running towards Faith's room, passing Joyce she burst through the open door. And stopped dead in her tracks. Standing by Faith was Xander. But it couldn't be Xander because she has just seen him still in his bed. Rage began to fill her heart and head that this demon would impersonate her friend.

Xander looking up as he heard Joyce call out to Buffy was shocked. How could this be? I mean really, How? Before he could even finish his thought Buffy was in the room. He started to speak, "Buffy? How you're dead?" As the words came out of his mouth he realized they were the wrong ones to say. Whether or not this was his Buffy the look in her eye promised pain and lots of it.

Buffy hearing those words felt the rage overcome her as she said, "I'm not but you will be." Rushing towards Xander, Xander realized he had to get out. Grabbing a hold of Faith's arm he orbed out.

Buffy's fist passed through the glowing blue lights as both the Xander demon and Faith disappeared. Causing the unbalance slayer to fall onto the bed that had previously contained the comatose Faith. Alarms started sounding and several nurses rushed in. Everyone was looking at Buffy and Joyce trying to find out what had happened and where their patient had gone.

Alright time for some words.

Yes Xander is from a Charmed/Buffy verse. In his verse Buffy had previously died and not been resurrected. Faith never went bad in part because when she struck Alan Finch they were able to call on Xander to heal him. Also Xander had been assigned to both Buffy and Faith as a whitelighter due to negligence on the part of the Powers that Be

Tara is a witch of the Warren line. However the Charmed ones were never born in this universe. The lines that created the Halliwells never came about. But Melinda Warren did exist and her line continues today.

The hard parts are coming up because let's face it Faith in this verse is screwed up at this point. Although I am playing with several ideas on why she went bad.

I am also toying with the idea of adding another cross eventually. Although if I do this will become a series because I am thinking that where the magic school should be is a certain existential Dinner. You know the one where Dr. Jackson sometimes hangs out.

However that would be a follow up story. This one I do know where I want to go just need to fill in the blanks along the way. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. Please If you have a moment or see something misspelled let me know. I will try to correct it.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Also I am playing with Formating a Bit because the line breaks I created do not show up when I post the chapters. Please be patient as this is new to me.

Finally thank you to nils for recommending this. And thank to everyone who has decided to follow this story. I really hope I can write something you will enjoy.

Chapter3 We got something. Not sure what but something

Willow and Tara arrived at the Hospital to see Buffy surrounded by various members of the hospital staff. Looking over to where Joyce was standing, a very worried look on her face Willow headed over and asked, "Mrs' Summers, what's going on? Why is everyone around Buffy? Is Xander OK, nothing's happened to him, Right?"

Joyce turned to Willow and replied, "Xander is still the same. But something happened to Faith. Something that looked like Xander appeared in Faith's room and when Buffy came in, it threatened her then grabbed Faith and disappeared. Then alarms started going off and since Buffy was in the room they are really questioning her. I think they may force us to leave the hospital, which will mean Xander will be left alone."

Willow jerked her head up sharply at the last bit of information. Her eye darkening just a bit. "Not going to happen!" She quietly said. Then in a soft voice as she stared at the group gathered around Buffy, "Purgat mentes et animi eorum, confusa venit ad lucem site solum" As she completed her spell everyone where she was looking stopped for a second, their eyes glazed over then they seemed to reboot. Looking around they tried to figure out what they were doing.

Tara seeing Willow cast the spell reacted differently, "Willow what are you doing? That was a memory spell wasn't it? Do you know how truly evil those are? They're like magical ruffies, why would you do that?"

Willow seeing that Tara looked very upset shook her head quickly, "No that was just a confusion spell. And really I couldn't let them stop us from coming here Xanders hurt. He can't protect himself at the best of times and now he is completely helpless..." Willow broke off as Buffy came over to them.

"Mom,and Willow and Willow's friend what are you guys doing here? And why are we at the hospital? Did something happen to me because I really don't remember why I am here." Buffy's words cut through Willow like a knife. Tara had a look on her face that Willow did not want to acknowledge.

As Willow's internal panic started to raise it had her mind going so fast even she couldn't understand what she was thinking, Joyce replied to Buffy, "Honey do you remember last night? Xander got hurt?"

At those words some of the confusion on Buffy's face seemed to clear up. "On Patrol right? I mean that's why I don't want him to go out because he's just 'normal' and it is too easy for him to get hurt." The last words came out in a condescending tone.

Joyce wanted to grab Buffy and shake her however now was not the time. "No Buffy after patrol when Xander was at home. Something happened and we came here do you remember anything? Do you remember what happened in Faith's room?"

Buffy paused as she listened to what her mother was saying. As she brought up Faith's room it came back to her. The demon that looked like Xander and it threatening her. Then it disappearing in the blue light with Faith. "Oh my God! The Xander demon took Faith!"

"XANDER DEMON? What Xander demon?" Willow cried out. Her loud exclamation had people in the hospital looking at her and Tara quickly grasped her shoulder.

"Shh, not so loud." Tara said.

"I really think we don't want to talk about this here" Joyce added.

Willow nodded, " We need to get to Giles. But we can't leave Xander alone. What if the demon comes back for him?"

"I'll stay with Xander while you girls go to the Magic Shop. " Joyce continued. "I can open the Gallery later today."

The three girls nodded and turned to leave. As they were walking away Willow realized they had not delivered any of the food they had brought. Turning back around she quickly went to Joyce, " We brought you some breakfast." Handing a bag and a large coffee to Joyce. Joyce nodded her thanks and Willow turned back to the others.

After Willow and Tara left the Magic Shop. Giles continued to pull out various volumes on demonology. Walking into the back room he paused, then turned towards the bathroom. As he was exiting the bathroom he heard the front door of the shop open. Hurrying towards the front he was surprised to see Anya coming in for the day.

"Good morning Giles," Anya called out. Then looking at the books spread over the counter and table commented. "If we want to maximize our profits we really can't have all of these books lying around like this."

Giles stopped, confused thoughts racing through his brain. "Yes, erh no. Anya why are you here?"

"Why am I here? Not only do I work here but I am you partner if you recall. I do own a twenty percent interest in this store." Anya replied. Then continuing on, "Really Giles why would I not be here?"

Giles seemed to lose his normal good cheer. "Perhaps because Xander is in the hospital. Perhaps due to the fact that after calling me last night you did not wait for either myself to arrive or even for the ambulance to get to Xander's home. You left him in the care of those creatures he calls parents!" By the end of that statement Giles normal voice had a distinctive edge to it.

"You mean Xander the philandering Male? I was Anyanka, Patron Saint of Scorned Women. Xander was cheating on me! He is lucky I only left him there!" Anya practically screamed at him.

"He didn't cheat on you, you bloody stupid BINT!" Giles yelled back. "He was attacked by a demon, which caused some kind of painful visions!"

Anya hearing this actually pause, "Vocah? I mean he's pulled that before but he wouldn't attack Xander. He only goes for high priced assassinations. But he is really good. I remember once I was working on a client and we were at this gathering. One of the last pythagorean seers was supposed to be there. But Vocah had already done his thing. The poor girl was withering on the ground for hours, giving random prophecies, screaming in pain, well at least she was until her head exploded that is. Unfortunately her brains covered my client and I couldn't get her to wish for anything! I mean really it was just a bit of gore. Nothing that should have stopped her from finishing her wish." As Anya continued Giles could tell the only upsetting part of her tale, at least to her, was the fact that she did not get to enact a wish.

Shaking his head, Giles interrupted Anya's trip down memory lane. "Wait Anya you are familiar with the demon who has caused this? This Vocah? And you're saying if we don't fix this then Xander's head will explode?"

"Yes, I mean no. Vocah wouldn't have any reason to come after Xander. " Anya replied.

Giles reigning in his temper carefully chose his next words. "Yes Anya but could this Vocah have been coming after Buffy. Xander did take a blow that was meant for Buffy last night. Which we believe was the cause of his current situation."

Anya shook her head in scorn. "Not likely while Vocah might come after Buffy, he IS fond of killing champions you know? That spell only works on seers and while slayer are minor seers, the spells will only cause damage in direct proportion to the gift the seer has. Slayers have such a minor gift it wouldn't be worth using that spell. Now if Vocah could use that on a seer for the Powers that would be worth it. But a slayer? Never!"

"Then perhaps you might use your vast knowledge of demons to help me figure out what has caused this?" Whilst Giles did not like admitting it. Anya's knowledge of demons was greater than any other human he knew.

"What and help that cheating Bastard! Why would I do something like that?" Anya asked.

Giles pausing for a moment thought. "Yes but if you can help me to successfully identify the demon who has caused this, I could see my way to paying you for the information."

As Giles finished saying the magic words Anya's eyes lit up. "How much are you willing to pay? For the right amount I could see my way to helping you. Shall we say one thousand dollars?"

"I doubt your information would be worth that much. After all I am sure we could eventually find it through our normal channels. However I believe I could see my way to paying you one hundred dollars." Giles countered.

"Please," Anya replied. "Don't insult me if I lower myself to helping that cheating bastard I couldn't do that for anything less than eight hundred."

"Really I might be able to see my way to two hundred, but in all actuality you can not even guarantee that you have the information I want." Giles continued, "Now if you were able to correctly identify the demon and what has been done I do believe two hundred is more than fair."

"Fair, FAIR! What is fair is that I leave him as he is and hope that his head explodes!" Anya replied. "But since I know that he is important to you, and we are partners here, I could go as low as six hundred."

"Six hundred, I am afraid that is out of the question. Really Anya do you want to be around when Buffy who is still a Slayer, and Willow who has been growing into a powerful witch find out you refused to help Xander?" Giles smiled a very Ripperish smile. "After all they still are not fully aware of everything that transpired last night."

Anya paused while she thought, Buffy might not come after her. What with her being human now. However she was not so sure about Willow. "Fine I am willing to go as low as four hundred. But you will not mention any of the details to those two."

Giles knew he had her now. "I think two hundred for identifying the demon and what ever it did to Xander,"He began. Seeing the cold look in Anya's eyes he continued. "And an additional one hundred if you help us figure out how to reverse whatever has been done WITHOUT Xander dying."

Anya mulled the deal over and quickly realized that this was probably the best deal she would get out of Giles. "Fine but I also want your word that nothing will be said about anything I said or did last night."

Giles nodded, "As long as Xander is alright I do not believe it would be prudent to bring up those details, at least not anymore than they may already know. So do we have a deal?"

Anya nodded her agreement. Sitting down at the table near Giles she said, "So tell me what you know about this demon." Giles spent the next twenty minutes recounting the details of what had happened. From the attack on himself in the magic shop, to last night in the Sunnydale junkyard. As Anya listened she did interrupt him a few times asking for clarification of certain details. However once the entire tail was done. She had a large smile on her face. "I'll take cash or check please. The answer is simple, it's a Tothric demon. They are know as very powerful creators of mystical tools and talismans. Now while I can not be positive because what is happening to Xander is not what I would expect to see, most likely he used a Ferula Gemina. It was designed to split a person in two. One of the two would have all the strengths of the original and the other would have all of the weaker characteristics. Also it used to be one of their signature attacks."

Giles sat back slightly stunned, whilst he was pleased that they might have identified the demon, he was also amazed at how quickly Anya had supplied the information. Getting up he began speaking,"Yes if it is indeed a Tothric demon than that is one thing. However our deal was also to supply information about what exactly he did to Xander. Now let me look up this demon and if it is indeed correct I am willing to pay you one hundred of the agreed upon two hundred. At least until we can confirm the device used was infact this Ferula Gemina. Since as you stated yourself that what has happened to Xander is not what should have happened if the demon was using the Ferula Gemina." As he finished speaking he began looking through his books hunting for a specific volume.

Anya bit back her reply. While it was true that everything about the description fit what she knew. She was also aware of the fact that what had happened to Xander did not match what should have happened. "Fine one hundred now. But I expect the rest of my money if you can confirm the other parts of the information."

Giles simply nodded as he opened whatever book he had been looking for and skillfully flipping through the pages he exclaimed, "Found it, you were right Anya." Just as once again the door to the Magic Shop opened and in came a upset Willow, a pissed off Slayer and a Shy Tara hiding her face with her hair.

The girls entered just in time to hear Giles. Willow looked up, "You've found the Xander Demon?" Buffy called out.

As always it seemed his slayer was able to stop him cold in his tracks, "Xander demon? No I believe we found the demon from the other night. Why would you call it a Xander Demon?"

Giles question quickly lead to Buffy explaining what had happened at the hospital, how the demon had appeared looking like Xander and told her she was 'Dead' Buffy snorted at that. "As if, any demon in Xander's shape is no match for me." Willow shook her head in silent agreement at that statement.

Buffy picked up the story explaining how the Xander demon had disappeared in the glowing blue lights, taking Faith with him. "So it seems Xander was correct something was after Faith." Giles stated. "However we have identified the demon that attacked me here in the Magic Shop and attacked Xander last night during patrol. It is most definitely a Tothic demon. According to the entry in Stevenson's Demonology they are actually quite rare. It was believed that as of around a hundred years ago there were only a handful of them left on Earth."

" it's working with something else?" Tara offered.

"Yes that may be the case, thank you Tara," Giles replied. As he said Tara's name, Buffy shook her head she honestly had not remembered the girl's name ever since seeing her at the hospital but when Giles mentioned it the name just snapped back into place.

"So Giles where to I find this Thotica Demon and how do I kill it?" Buffy asked.

Giles shook his head, "You don't. We need to capture this demon alive. If it is working with something else we need to know who or what that something is. We also need to know exactly what it did to Xander so that we can reverse it."

Buffy blushed slightly as she recalled that yes they needed the demon alive. "So how do we find it and capture it then?"

" about a .binding spell? I i I have my 's spell books. There was a .spell in it ta to do that." Tara quickly hid herself behind her hair once she had finished speaking. Her nervousness always increased around people she was not completely comfortable with. And that caused her to stutter more.

"A binding spell?" Willow said in an excited voice. "I don't think I've done one of those before but if we did that we could capture the demon right?" Looking between Giles and Tara she waited for confirmation of her idea.

"Yes whilst bind spells can be used to capture demons they are generally not used because they are more ritualist in nature and unless you are summoning the demon it is very difficult to get the demon to step into the binding circle." Giles replied deflating Willow's excitement.

" one," Tara stuttered. "It a that you can throw at the demon."

"God Lord, a binding spell that can be used as a crystal?" Giles asked. "And you have access to this spell?" Tara shook her head yes. "How did you find such a spell?"

"Its magic, Mr. Giles. My left me her spell which she had from her mother going back to the late sixteen hundreds." As she continued speaking about her family's magic Tara's stutter seemed to disappear. "My mother said our family traced it roots back to Salem but we left before the witch burnings started."

"My word, amazing I would love to see that book someday. If of course you would not mind." Giles said.

"I'm sorry Mr. Giles but I can only show the book to family. Anyone else and it is empty or won't open."

Giles nodded, "God Lord, A true Grimoire then possibly bound to your family's bloodlines. And please my dear call me Giles. There is no need to be so formal."

"Thank you Giles," Tara smiled briefly before hiding her face behind her hair again.

"What do you mean a true Grimoire, Giles? We have plenty of magic grimoires in your books." Willow asked.

"Yes well, those whilst they can be called grimoires are not true ones. Or at least they no longer are. A true grimoire is tied usually to a bloodline or possibly a coven. And only individuals who satisfy the requirements can open it and read it. Also a true grimoire is almost a living thing. As long as it family or coven lives it can continue to grow. In fact there are stories that truly powerful grimoires could kill if the wrong people tried to open them." Giles explained. "Most of the ones I have are actually only copies of certain spells or copies of grimoires where the bloodlines died out. This negated the protective magics they contained."

Willow simply nodded as she understood exactly what Giles was saying. "So the book Tara has might have spells that no one else has, but because it is bound to her family only she can read them?"

"Well, whilst only she or her family would be able to open the book. There would be nothing preventing her from sharing spells if she chose to by copying a spell and giving it to other."

"Great with the splainy Giles, but shouldn't we see about getting this crystal thingy and finding the Xander demon or the Thotica demon." Buffy broke in.

"Yes I suppose we should. Tara how long do you think it would take to prepare the spell we need? And Do you have everything you need to do the spell? Giles asked Tara.

"Well most of what I would need I think I have. But I need a good size salt crystal. Salt purifies and because of that when the crystal hits the demon the magical aura of the demon destroys the crystal releasing the spell." Tara explained.

"My word, that is ingenious," Giles remarked. "I believe we have several crystals which could work for you." He said moving to one of the shelves in the shop. He picked up a box containing a variety of crystals. "Please take what you need."

"What?" Cried out Anya, "And who is going to be paying for that. We can not give away merchandise and expect to succeed as a small business in this economy."

Willow hearing this turned to Anya, who she really hadn't paid any attention to before and said. "But Anya this is to help Xander that's more important, isn't it?"

Seeing the look on Anya's face and knowing of her recent change in feelings towards Xander. Giles realized he need to say something quickly before Anya could reply. If only to forestall the impending disaster. Giles said, "Anya please don't worry about it I will make certain that it is paid for out of my own pocket."

Anya squinted at him, "Just be sure to write down what they are taking. So that I can make sure the books are balanced." Giles simply nodded his head at that. Glad that the situation had been diffused.

As Tara finished grabbing the things she thought she might need. Anya noted them down. Turning towards Willow, Tara said. "Willow do you want to go with me? The book is back in my dorm room. We could do the spell there then come back here." Willow quickly nodded her agreement and the two of them left.

Giles turning to Buffy said, "It may take them a little while. I suggest you go and get some rest as once they are ready we will go hunting the Tothic demon."

Buffy nodded, "I think I'll go back to the hospital. Mom is still there with Xander. We didn't want to leave him alone."

Giles nodded, "Yes quiet, however since it seems the demon has already taken Faith I believe Xander will be fine for now. We will want some watching him at night to prevent any vampires from taking advantage of his condition. But I highly doubt this Tothic demon will come after Xander since you and Faith appear to have been its targets."

"Buffy shaking her head said, "I'll let mom know then and we can both head home." As she turned to leave the store Buffy suddenly realized that Tara and Willow had taken the car and there was no way Giles would let her borrow his. "Giles could I borrow your phone to call my mom? Tara and Willow left without me."

Giles nodded and said, "Certainly Buffy."

About ten minutes after leaving the Magic Shop Willow and Tara were arriving at her dorm room. Quickly entering the two young women started preparations for the spell. Willow started gathering the ingredients that Tara had said they would need. Tara walked over to the desk room and picked up a large leather bound book. Willow stared in shock. "Where did that come from?" She was sure that just a moment before there had been no book on the desk.

Tara smiled, "It was there the entire time. But if I don't want someone to see it then they will never notice it."

"Oh like a somebody else's problem field?" Willow asked excitedly. Tara looked at her questioningly "You know from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books."

"I don't think I've read those. My family really didn't like to let me read, or go to school or really do much of anything." Tara replied.

Willow hearing this was shocked, her parents might have been gone more than they were at home but they had always encouraged her to learn and grow. "I'm so sorry Tara. But now that you're here you can read them they're really fun." Willow finished with a smile.

Tara smiled back at her, basking in the warm glow she felt when she was with Willow. The young women continued preparing the spell. Tara taking out a sheet of paper copied the spell from the book. Willow could not help herself she tried to look at the book while it was open but the pages were blank.

Handing one of the papers to Willow, Tara said, "Look over the spell then we can cast it together." Willow was surprised to see the spell was in English.

"Wow usually when I look up spells they're in ancient dead languages. How come this is in English?"

"Well probably because it was originally created by my family. In fact the note in the book say it was created by Prudence Warren. She was like my great great great great great and some more greats grandmother." Tara finished with a smile. Holding out her hand to Willow she asked," Are you ready?"

Willow took Tara's hand and together they started chanting the spell over the salt crystal. "Salt for Purity Salt for life. Protect us both day and night. Bind the evil that you find. Hold it fast in space and time." As they finished a small flash of light occurred.

"That's it?" Willow asked.

Tara shook her head no, "Almost the crystal need to charge before it's ready to be used." She paused as she considered if she wanted to say the next part. "It usually can take a full day to charge but there is a way we can speed that up." As she finished speaking a slight blush crept up her face.

"Really?" Willow asked full of excitement at doing more magic. "What do we need to do? Feed it energy from somewhere?"

Tara nodded blushing more as she softly spoke, "Yes but the binding uses life energy. So if we want to speed up the spell, we need to channel life energy into it." As she spoke her face had reached a beat red color.

Willow turning to look at Tara saw her blush and said. "Life energy..?" Putting two and two together Willow quickly reached the answer to Tara's blush. "You mean sexual energy?"

Tara just nodded her head refusing to speak. Willow blushing now as well, grabbed her hand and said, "Well I think we can do that."

Fade to Black

Ok not doing sex scenes. Personally I do not think I would do them justice so I leave that to your imagination. I did want to get to what is going on with Xander but at ten pages plus I realized it might be better to make a break here and have the next Chapter focus on Xander and what will happen with Faith. Also for some reason Whistler seems to be trying to break into that chapter. Seriously that guy has no class.

One note about my chapter titles they may or may not be relevant. Mostly they are the product of a slightly deranged mind. But on the plus side the brain was half off. I really got a deal on it. Only slightly used.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 4 The Pricks That Be

As Xander saw Buffy coming towards him he grabbed a hold of Faith and orbed out. As he rematerialized in the Elder's domain, Faith started to fall to the floor. Thankfully while this wasn't exactly Heaven it was a piece of it. As she fell a bed appeared under her stopping her from roughly hitting the floor.

Kneeling beside her Xander brushed the hair off of Faith's face, "Faith what the hell happened here? How come you were in a hospital and how is Buffy still alive? It's looking more and more like we are in some weird alternate dimension."

Suddenly from behind him Xander hears, "I don't know who or what the hell you are kid. But the Powers don't like it when someone tries to screw with their plan. You need to take the dark slayer there back to where she was. She has a Destiny and it don't include being up here."

Turning Xander sees a man in an outdated seventies style suit with a hat standing behind him. The man for his part looks at him and practically chokes. "Harris? How in all the Hells did you get here? Regular humans can't come here and they sure as anything can't bring others with them. No one can do that!" Even as Whistler spoke he realized that while this looked like the Harris kid it also didn't. He looked younger than Harris. Not by a lot but definitely a year or two younger.

"Who are you? And you can tell your Powers to shove it where the sun don't shine if you think I am abandoning Faith." Xander growled.

Seeing a very committed look on the kid's face Whistler hoped he could talk him around but if not there were always his other options. "Names Whistler I work for the Powers that Be." Seeing that the name did not seem to cause any recognition in the boy's face he continued. " You know the guys in charge. They are the ones who chart out everyone's destinies and make sure that evil can't win."

Hearing this Xander struggled to control his face. Angels of Destiny had to be those pricks. They always thought they knew better than anyone else. And screw any consequences or choices, if you did not follow their plan they would bend you over. Carefully he replied, "Sorry never heard of them. Now if you don't mind why don't you get out of here unless you have a better reason than 'Because I say so' for me to abandon Faith."

Whistler sighed it didn't look like this would be easy but the boy had left him an opening. "Look kid what's your name?"

Xander smirked and said, "You can call me Nighthawk."

"Nighthawk? Really you have got to be kidding me! I am not calling you some comic book name. Seriously what's your name kid?" Whistler replied.

Xander laughed, "A guy named Whistler complaining about a comic book name? Man is your wit is dull. You might want to sharpen your Blade." Still chuckling he continued, "If you can't or won't call me Nighthawk then Xander will do." Realizing the opportunity for some concrete information Xander reached out with his whitelighter abilities and felt for the wards he knew should be in place. Finding the right one he switched it on since all the wards seemed to be more or less off. He just hoped this Whistler wouldn't notice until it was too late.

"I ain't calling you that pain in the asses name either." Whistler retorted.

"Well I guess you can just keep calling me kid then. But why do you call Xander a pain in the ass. From what it sounds like he's just a normal guy." Xander replied.

"Harris NORMAL? That little shit is a chaos nexus. Ever since he got in with the slayer he started screwing up the Powers plans. Always subtle like, he says or does the wrong thing at the wrong time and I have to scramble to get everything back on track. And because he's a chaos nexus I can't even arrange for him to be taken out!" Whistler said. "For years now Harris has been a pain in my ass. If something goes wrong do the Powers blame him? No! They put it all on me. I tried being nice, set up opportunities for him. All he would have had to do was leave Sunnydale, the slayer and the witch behind. Did he take it? No, of course not. The little shit didn't even mention it to his friends. Took me a while but I finally fixed his ass."

"Really what'd you do to him." Xander asked.

"Simple I just encouraged all his friends, the real players to start realizing he was a nobody. No powers no real contribution. As long as I can keep them from listening to him makes my job a lot smoother." Whistler smiled as he recalled something. "I mean the little shit almost screwed up the plans for her." He stated nodding at Faith. "If I hadn't put a bug in Angel's ear he would have derailed all our plans for her. It's funny that was really when I started to see results. Just a little whisper and the Witch and the Slayer started pushing him away."

"So that easy huh? And what plans did you have for her?" Xander asked not liking any of the information he was hearing so far. "How did he almost screw her up?"

"Easy she has a Destiny. Capitol D yah know? Only thing is we had to have her go bad. More or less of her own free will."

"More or Less? How can free will have a more or less clause. Supposed to be that even when you have a destiny you can chose not to fulfill it." Xander pushed for more information.

"Not for the big players kid. For them the only get a hard or a soft option. The Powers don't allow any leeway when it comes to the people with important destinies. Whatever it takes they will do it. That's what pisses me off about Harris he screwed up so many things and I wasn't allowed to take him out. That's when I found out he was a chaos nexus. We take him out and it's bad news for everyone. If he had been normal we could have just had him killed or forced him away like we did with the Slayer's pop. He didn't want to move to Sunnydale. Kept pushing against it. Finally we just used some memory dust on him, his secretary and the mother. Boom! Next thing you know they're getting divorced and the slayer is headed to Sunnydale." Whistler laughed at that. Then sobered up, "But not with Harris. No with a nexus you have to be real careful and subtle. Otherwise they'll bite you on the ass. We set him up with Anyanka, all it took was subtle push for her, and a promise to D'Hoffryn that he could have her back after we were done with her. Humans, so easily lead by their hormones. She just had to strip in front of him and he was hooked."

"So how did you force the girl to go bad?" Xander asked trying to get Whistler back on track. However inside the revelations of what had been done to Buffy and her family had him raging.

"Simple made her think everyone was out to get her. That nobody could care for her as anything but a piece of ass. Then set her up with the Mayor he promised her he would help her as long as she didn't act against him. She didn't even know the contract she signed made it so she had no choice but to do whatever he said. Because by his definition if she didn't she was acting against him." Whistler chuckled, "I tell ya Wilkins was a piece of work. But he came through for us when we needed him to. And the funny thing is he thought he was the one pulling the strings. He never had a clue as to the real movers and shakers. He never even realized he'd gone to the other side. Wilkins he had a Destiny,.. to work for the blackhats but when he first came to Sunnydale he was a white hat. Took some work to turn him, even once he was turned guy was like a evil Mr. Rogers. I tell ya it was freaky."

"Sounds interesting but how did Harris almost derail that?"

"If my boy Angel hadn't gone there right when he did, the slayer would have stopped herself from killing the kid. He wasn't even really fighting back. She would have stopped and realized he cared for her. That would have derailed the entire plan."

"So you still haven't explained to me why I need to take her back or why you just don't grab her yourself and take her back."

"I would if I could kid. I still don't know how you got in here or how you managed to bring her. But I know I can't touch her. At least not to move her. And she has to go back in a few weeks or months she'll wake up. And find the last little surprise Wilkins left for her. She has to use that or the contract won't be terminated. And after that she gets to come back to the white hats side." As Whistler finished speaking he seemed to shake himself as if realizing how much information he had just finished volunteering to this kid. Things no one was supposed to know about except for him and the Powers.

Looking at the kid who looked like Harris, he growled. "What the hell are you playing at Kid?" As he spoke he check mystically. Wards that were not present when he came in seemed to be active around him. Looking them out he could tell they were the reason he had just answered all the kids questions and volunteered so much information. They seemed to be designed to force the truth from people.

Xander realizing that Whistler had finally caught on to what was happening just smirked. "Me playing? You're the one who likes playing games. Jerking people here and there, screwing with free will. Forgetting that they are the reason we are here. Your Powers that Be are supposed to serve them not yank them around like puppets on a string."

"Kid you're going to take the dark slayer back right now, and quit screwing with her or I will beat you to death." An enraged Whistler yelled. No one got one over on him. He was the one who got to screw with people. People did not screw him!

"Now how are you going to make me do that? You already told me you can't take her back yourself and what's more you don't even know how I got here. If you beat me to death she'd still be here." Xander stated with a shit eating grin on his face. Oh how he loved to screw up the plans of the 'Angels of Destiny'.

"Really, I may not be able to kill you right now but I can beat you until you beg to me to let you take her back." With those words Whistler moved towards Xander, transforming into his more powerful demonic form.

Xander seeing a type of demon he was very familiar with, just smiled. "Bad idea dick wadd, forgetting where you are? Do you think we would let your kind in here so easily?" With that parting shot Xander activated the rest of the wards.

Whistler looked confused for a moment, who the hell was the kid talking about? What we? And what was so special about this area? As far as he knew it had been vacant for far longer than his own existence and he was no spring chicken. Then the wards hit. It felt like they were trying to tear him apart. They felt stronger then the wards they had around the oracles for the Powers.

He could feel them burning him up. He started to panic,thinking I have to get out of here. Pushing all his power into the act he managed to shimmer out even as his clothes and skin where burning.

"Well shit," muttered Xander as the demon Whistler shimmered out. "Thought we had him for a minute there. Still he has to be 'wicked' powerful as you would say Faith. Only way he could have survived." He finished his statement as he turned back to the comatose slayer.

"Well looks like you're not my Faith. But you would or might have been if not for those Pricks. Makes me wonder where I am. I mean obviously I am not in my world. And it sounds like the me that is here has been getting royally screwed. And we need to get you fixed up. Would have been easier if you hadn't signed a contract of your own free will. I might have been able to fix that. But you signing even in ignorance makes it a bit out of my league."

Xander paused as he tried to plan his next moves. He could see some of the objectives he need to accomplish. And even though he realized he was not in his world it didn't matter what world he was no way no how would he abandon Faith to the Pricks.

While he didn't realize it activating the wards in the Elder's domain, was having a profound effect on Xander. Since he had arrived various influences had been clouding his mind. Something that would normally have been impossible due to his status as a whitelighter. Even the reality warping powers of vengeance demons could not change the memories of a whitelighter. They could throw them into alternate dimensions but not change their memories of what was really supposed to have happened.

Xander thought. Alright let's spell it out what to we have to do here Faith, and what do we need to accomplish that? Speaking out loud he started making his list, writing it out on paper that he caused to appear as he talked to Faith.

We are going to need a witch. No way would it be a good idea to let whatever was planned for you to go down. I just can't see that ending well for you. We will also need the contract you signed. That would definitely help remove the spell. I may be able to scry for that once we have the witch.

We are going to have to find the other me. From the sounds of it once the contract is null and void he'll be able to help you more than anyone else. Also I gotta be honest with you babe. No way I am allowing any version of me to miss out on what we have. We will also need to fix whatever Whistler did to fuck other me over. And fix whatever he did to screw over Willow and Buffy.

I have to wake you up. Only question is, 'If I wake you up now is that compulsion going to have an effect here or will you be able to be yourself?' Either way you being you I know I will be in for some pain.

We need to figure out how the hell I got here and how to get me back to where I belong. And along the way we get to fuck over The Pricks that Be and all their plans.

The last part was underlined multiple times with great big exclamation points.

Looking at his list and looking at Faith. Xander decided that the best course of action would be to get the witch first. Hopefully with someone else here Faith would be able to listen without over reacting. Although once she knew everything he doubted any reaction would be overboard. "They really screwed you over honey. I think we need to make sure you can return the favor." With those words he pictured the witch he had seen in the scrying pool. The one from the Warren line. Reaching out he looked for her concentrating on her image and counting on his innate power as a guardian and protector of good witches. While he was not sure she was a good witch he knew if she wasn't he would not be able to forge the connection. He felt it slip into place getting a lock on her he said to Faith, "Be right back." and orbed out.

Orbing to where the witch he had sensed was, Xander materialized and for a moment his brain refused to function. The little voice in his head seemed to come through loud and clear. "Well that is definitely our witch. Infact I think that our witch is definitely well put together!" In front of Xander was the witch naked with another girl. Two hot girls naked. Two hot girls naked and they were doing things that he usually would have only seen watching porn. A blonde and a redhead. Both of them appeared to be a natural blonde and a natural redhead.

Neither of the two girls seemed to notice that he was there for a moment. As Xander's brain tried to catch up with something. Another thought started to form."Hey doesn't the redhead look familiar?" Then like a freight train it hit him

"WILLOW!" he exclaimed. In a very loud startled voice. This did cause a reaction from the two looked up and saw Xander standing only a few feet from her.

She started to call to him but realized this could not be her Xander because he was in the hospital. "Demon," she scream grasping the crystal that she and Tara had been hold she threw it at him. The crystal hit Xander and fell to the ground. Willow seeing this, knowing that this was the demon that had put her Xander in the hospital began to get angry. How dare this creature try to impersonate her Xander. Power started to flow around her, Willow's eyes began to darken.

Xander for his part seeing Willow getting pissed realized he was in a very bad situation. He had to make a choice try to grab the other witch now or just try to get out of here. Knowing that grabbing a girl while she is in a intimate moment, naked and not knowing who he was would probably not encourage her to help him. Xander orbed out.

As the blue lights coalesced around his form Willow and Tara were once more alone. However this did not stop Willow the power she had called was still building. A frightened Tara quickly reached out to her lover. "Willow you need to stop. Please you're scaring me."

Willow hearing Tara's voice tried to let go of the power she had called. But letting go was not as easy as grasping the power. "I can't Tara I can't let it go.." Panic sounded in her voice as she replied to Tara.

Tara while in her mind not more powerful than Willow did have a better understanding of magic. Seeing the strangely intact crystal on the floor she got up and grabbed it. "Use this try to push the power into the crystal. Not all of it just enough until you can let the power go."

Willow grabbed the crystal from Tara's hands and started pushing power into it. It felt like she was scraping tar off of her hands. The power didn't want to let go. Eventually after what seemed like an eternity she felt the power begin to recede. That did it. Just enough so that she could let the rest of it go. As the power left she could feel herself crashing, it was like coming down from a caffeine rush only much, much worse. Looking at Tara, a very weary and scared Willow asked, "What just happened? My magics never acted like that before. It was like I had no control. That's never happens to me!" Tears were falling from Willow's eyes as she finished her statement.

Tara seeing what was happening and realizing the opportunity in front of her knelt down by Willow. "Willow sweetie, yes it has happened before. Just this morning you cast that confusion spell and it did more than you wanted it too. Buffy couldn't even remember why she was at the hospital. Remember? This happens to someone when they start abusing magic. The magic starts taking over. Until they have no control left. That's when people usually start dying. My mom told me she used to have a brother. But he let the magic take over and it destroyed him. He stopped being this wonderful caring person and started doing horrible evil things. It got so bad that our Family's book rejected him. He tried to pick it up one day and it threw him across the room. After that he couldn't get within ten feet of it without sparks starting to fly."

Willow looked shocked at Tara's declaration. She didn't abuse her magic. She only used it for little things and to help out sometimes. Like when Buffy needed help with the slaying or if their dorm room was really messy. But that couldn't be abuse. It was to help nothing else.

Tara looking at Willow was not sure if she was getting through to her or not. "Please Willow, believe me you need to stop using magic for things that it isn't meant to be used for. Work on that and controlling when you do use it and everything should get better."

Willow nodded of course she wouldn't use magic for things it's not meant for. And from what Tara was saying she just needed to work on her control. Which meant practicing more spells. "You're right Tara I need to work on that. I need to make sure I have control when I use magic."

Tara felt her heart grow warm. Willow was listening! It would be alright. Tara smiled at Willow, a loving smile which Willow returned.

Until Willow thought of the last few minutes. "We need to get to Buffy and the others. Let them know that the demon tried to attack us. But why didn't the crystal work on it?"

Tara thought for a moment, 'Maybe it didn't have enough power to bind the demon? I've never used this spell before but I would guess if the crystal was not fully charged maybe that's why it didn't work."

Looking at the glowing crystal in her hands Willow said, "I think it may be fully charged now."

Quickly getting dressed the girls started to head out to the Magic Shop.

Buffy was asleep in her bed at home. After calling her mom at the hospital and having her come over to pick her up they both decided that it would be best to get at least a few hours worth of sleep before whatever came next started.

Shimmering into the room a slightly disheveled Whistler appear. His suit was different from his last one but still stuck in the seventies. Stand well back from the Slayer he called out to her, "Slayer you need to wake up." A strange male voice telling her to wake up did have part of the desired effect. Buffy found herself awake on her feet and moving to attack. As her fist headed towards Whistlers head he rolled with the punch. Having worked for the Powers for so long he knew avoiding it entirely would only piss the slayer off. However if she thought she had tagged him good it would calm her down.

Hitting the floor he yelled out, "Slayer it's me Whistler" This brought Buffy to a stop. She definitely recognized Whistler from when he told her what she had to do to end Angelus. Because of that she also did not like him at all.

"What do you want and Why are you here in my bedroom?" Buffy ask as she tried to tower over the downed demon. All five foot three or so inches of her loomed over Whistler. "You had better have a good reason for being here!"

"Look slayer you know I only come around when it's really important. I got too much to do to be here all the time. But somethin bad is happening. There's a new player and he took the other slayer."

Buffy nodded, "Yeah the Demon that tried to look like Xander. It said it was going to kill me. Still anything that looks like Xander can't be that tough." Hearing this Whistler was both elated and upset at the same time. Elation that at least the slayer was already on board with the kid being a demon. Something he was pretty sure the kid wasn't. And her feelings about the Harris kid where exactly what they were supposed to be. Hell he couldn't be happier about that. Upset that the subtle nudges he had made to alienate her from Harris looked to be working against him when it came to this new threat. If she couldn't get around that he might have to remove some of them until they had dealt with the problem. And these things had taken years to build up. He couldn't be sure that it would easily fall back in place.

"This thing is not you friend Harris. It may look like him but it is a whole lot more powerful than he could ever be. You treat it like it was Harris and it will kill you."

"But what does it want me for? I already know it took Faith. Why does it need me?" Buffy asked. She really was not as stupid or as condescending she usually sounded. But whenever someone starts messing with minds the results are never pretty. As a result of Whistler and the Powers manipulation of Buffy, she usually came off sounding much dumber that she was. At least in any areas the Powers did not want her questioning.

Whistler already had his answer ready, "We can't be sure but we think this demon wants to destroy the slayers. And by destroy I don't mean kill you and the other one I mean destroy the slayer spirit itself. We can't let that happen if we lost the slayer the balance would be in real danger."

Buffy looked shocked at this revelation."But how I mean I thought nothing could do that?"

"Yeah kid we aren't sure how this thing is going to do it but you need to take it out quick as soon as you see it. You give it time to even say boo and it will probably take you out." Whistler skillfully lied to Buffy.

"Well why didn't it do that earlier at the hospital?" She asked.

Whistler griped internally, 'Just shut up as do as you're told!"

However to Buffy he said, "Look it does need you alive, along with the other slayer. From what we can tell that is. But if you try and fight it to a stalemate it will take you out. Next thing you know you'll be waking up tied and ready to be sacrificed."

Buffy nodded remembering when she had to fight Angelus and how she couldn't give an inch or he would have won. "Alright can you tell us how to find it?"

"It will probably try to find you. Just make sure you're ready as soon as you see it kill it. It's the only chance you'll have." Whistler replied. Picking up his hat that had fallen to the ground, he tipped it to the slayer and shimmered out.

"I've got to get to Giles and tell him about this." She said, "Mom wake up we need to go see Giles."

Xander orbing back to the Elder's domain sighed as he looked down at Faith. "Well that went well. Somehow I don't think Willow will ever forgive me or even other me, for orbing in like that. Although when the hell did she start liking girls?" Shaking his head Xander knew he was far from home.

"Still if plan A didn't work let's move to plan be. I need someone else here when we wake you up Faith and while I would love to have someone with the mojo action, beggars can't be choosers. Going to have to go get me I suppose." Nodding to the sleeping slayer. He walked out of the room and headed for the vision pool. Once there he said, "Show me the Chaos Nexus Alexander Harris." The pool vibrated for a moment and the in the water he saw an older version of himself lying in a hospital bed attached to machines just like Faith had been. "What the hell, Whistler made you guys a matched set." He exclaimed. Shaking his head he pictured the destination firmly then orbed out.

Arriving at Xander's bedside he quickly grasped his alternate self and orbed back to the Elder's domain. Although this time when he appeared instead of his alternate landing on a appearing bed he landed on the stone floor. "Ouch figure you and me we really don't get too many breaks."

Right outside the Magic Shop, Buffy and Joyce arrive just as Willow and Tara get there. Entering the Magic Shop together they call out to Giles, who is one the phone. "Giles we have more information about the demon." Giles hangs up the phone and doesn't appear to be listening. Moving up to him Buffy shakes him. "Giles are you listening to me?"

Giles shakes his head, "No that was the hospital, Xander has disappeared."

OK I am hating Whistler he was pounding on my mental doors bursts in a causes a major rewrite of what I had already written. Then the jerk works his way to most of a big bad. Talk about rude. Although part of that is because of the mental nagging and after reading a bit more about Whistler, I realized his having an alternate demonic form, shooting blue energy from his hands and the ability to teleport sounded really familiar. Then most of it wrote itself.

He also made what I thought would be a fairly straightforward story become much more complex. It really makes me doubt that I can finish all the plot threads now in my head in one story.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

A special thanks to Hvulpes Your review sparked a fire of ideas for this chapter. And to BrandonYoung who found the story I could not remember the name of that first inspired the idea of alternate Xander.

Thank you to winniepoo for recommending my story

And a Huge thanks to ajw his story  Story-28512/ajw+A+New+  was what really inspired my idea of Xander as a whitelighter.

Chapter 5 Myths, Legends and Mythtakes

"No that was the hospital, Xander has disappeared." hearing Giles statement everyone stopped, even Anya felt something. While she was still firmly of the mind that Xander deserved anything that happened to him. Part of her knew this was not true. Willow and Buffy both looked stunned. Joyce worried and Tara while upset was not sure how she should react.

Buffy seemed to come out of it first. "It has got to be this new Demon! Right before we came here I was visited by Whistler with information from the Powers that Be." Hearing this Giles was even more shocked. The Powers never really worked like that. They used prophecies and would send visions but for them to send a actual messenger.

"Good Lord, it appears to be worse than we thought." Giles said. " What exactly did Whistler say to you Buffy?"

"He said the reason this demon is after me and Faith is because it will use us in some kinda ritual thingy to end the Slayers power forever." Buffy replied."He also said that it is so strong if I give it the smallest chance it will be able to beat me. Even though it looks like Xander.. it is much more powerful than Xander could ever be. He said that it looking like Xander was probably supposed to throw me off my game." Buffy paused and then added, "I mean really it's not like Xander has ever been able to really help out with any of the problems we've faced!"

Joyce watched stunned as it seemed that Giles, Willow and Anya seemed to shake their heads in agreement with Buffy's last statement. Something snapped, "Buffy Ann Summers! How dare you say that. If it wasn't for Xander would any of you even be here?" Everyone looked at Joyce as if she had suddenly sprouted a second head.

"Mom what are you talking about?" Buffy asked. "I mean really he has never done anything to help. Yeah he would get the donuts when we were researching things. But it's not like he ever did anything important!"

Willow chimed in, "It's true Mrs. Summers I love Xander, he's been my best friend forever. But when it comes to slaying and world saving he really doesn't do anything."

Looking at the two girls as if they were crazy Joyce turned to Giles and said, "And you Rupert do you also believe that Xander has never had any major contribution?"

Giles paused taking off his glasses and polishing them, "Well certainly the boys enthusiasm and the way he could lift everyone's spirits up where important details. However I must agree that overall Xander has never really done anything outstanding to help."

Joyce could not believe what she was hearing. Something was not right here. Slowly she spoke.

"So what would you consider an outstanding effort? If someone where to save Buffy from drowning in the Master's Cave? Or what about during that Halloween where Buffy was helpless and Willow was a ghost. If they managed to protect Buffy and Willow would that count? Or getting the rocket launcher that took out the Judge? What about if a person built the bomb you used to destroy the mayor? Or helped lead the other students to fight the vampires that attacked during the eclipse? Would any of those things count as a major contribution?"

Buffy, Willow and Giles all looked at each other and nodded.

"Well of course those would count." Giles said

"Mom you know that those were major events. They counted." was Buffy's reply.

"Well yes they would count but I don't see what your point is Mrs. Summers" Willow said.

Joyce let out a breath. "My point Willow is that each of those events was something done by Xander."

Giles, Willow and Buffy looked shocked. Buffy was the first to speak, "Mom I'm sorry but your wrong. Xander never did any of those things. Angel was the one who saved me in the Masters cave. Not Xander."

"And during Halloween it was Angel and someone dressed as a soldier who protected us all." Willow added. "And Cordelia and her boyfriend were the ones to get the rocket launcher for us not Xander."

And it was Oz and Willow who built the bomb we used. Xander had nothing to do with it." Giles continued "In fact I honestly do not recall seeing him that day till after the fight was over."

Buffy and Willow nodded,"It's true I'm not sure where he was until after the fight was over." Willow said.

Tara looked shocked, "Willow that's not true. When we first meet and were talking about our friends and school. You said Xander helped lead a bunch of the other students to safety. I didn't realize till after I found out about what YOU ALL DO that you must have meant he had to have been leading the other students in fighting back."

"No that wasn't Xander. He wasn't even there. I would have known if he had done something like that." Willow protested.

Joyce spoke up, "Willow, Buffy what was Xander dressed as that Halloween?"

Both looked at each other, "A soldier" They replied at the same time.

"And who helped you that night?" Joyce continued.

Buffy frowned, "Mom you know this it was Angel and someguy dressed as a Soldier!" Really was her mom losing her memory? Buffy thought.

Joyce was sure something was very wrong by this point looking at Tara she could see the concerned look in the young woman's eyes. "Rupert, when Cordelia and her boyfriend managed to obtain the rocket launcher Buffy used. Who was Xander dating."

"Really Joyce I am not sure what the point of your questions are." Giles responded. He seemed to be getting visibly upset.

"Please Rupert humor me who was Xander dating?" Joyce asked.

"Well he was dating Cordelia at the time of course you know that as well as I do!" Giles finished raising his voice.

"Can't any of you see what is happening here?" Joyce asked the three of them. "In every instance you seem to be going out of your way to not give Xander any credit for what he has done."

"Mom you're really starting to worry me. I mean you're not making any sense." Buffy said looking at her mother with concern in her eyes. " Are you sure you're ok? Do you think we need to have you checked out by a doctor?"

Joyce looked besides herself. How could none of them see what happening. Even when the facts were presented to them. They were still blind.

Tara spoke up. "I think there is a spell here." She carefully chose her words. Memory spells were very dangerous and forcing people to remember things they had been spelled to forget could cause a lot of problems.

Buffy looked up, "You think someone put a spell on my Mom? It has to have been the demon Whistler told us about!"

Tara considered her words carefully, "I can only say it looks like there is some kind of a spell here. But it's very important that we do not focus on it right now. If it is a memory spell, then the person being influence may react violently when confronted by it or it could damage them if it is brought to their attention."

Giles hearing this nodded, "Yes any magic that affects the mind is very dangerous." He said looking at Buffy and Willow. "I recommend we stop talking about the subject as we would not want to cause any harm to the person afflicted."

Willow and Buffy nodded. Inside Buffy was feeling scared. Someone had been messing with her mom! She wasn't sure why but whoever it was would pay! Willow was shocked this must be what Tara had meant about mind and memory spells. How could someone do that to Mrs. Summers?

Joyce looked over at Tara. She was surprised to see that Tara had been looking right at her waiting for Joyce to look at her. Tara mouthed the word 'Later' Joyce nodded. And said, "Yees that might be a good idea Rupert."

"Yes I believe that would be best for now." Giles said. "However we do need to focus on the current threat. Buffy did Whistler tell you anything else about this demon? It's powers or how it may come after us?"

"No that was pretty much everything he said." Buffy replied.

"Oh Tara and I have more information. While we were preparing the crystal, the demon attacked us!" Willow said.

"What!" Buffy yelled.

"Attacked you? Good Lord how did you get away?"

"Willow I'm not sure it was trying to attack us. It didn't seem violent. Shocked maybe but not violent." Even as Tara finished speaking her face started turning red as she recalled just what had been going on when the 'Demon' had appeared.

Giles in his natural role as a watcher asked, "What exactly were you doing that might have shocked this demon?"

Tara started blushing more profoundly. Willow began to blush and stammered, "Ah really we we had already created the crystal and cast the base spell. But it it needed to be charged..and we were doing a.. a ritual to charge the crystal. That's all!"

"Really, "Giles said, "I am not sure how a ritual could shock a demon. But what happened and please any details no matter how small may be important." Hearing this both Willow and Tara's faces became even more red.

Buffy seeing Willow's reaction and knowing her friend, chimed in, "What did you have to be naked or something for this ritual to work?"

"Really Buffy, contrary to popular belief, there are very few rituals that require the practitioners to be naked or skyclad." Giles said. "In fact of the few I know of, the only reason I…"Giles stopped speaking his brain had caught up to which rituals could have been used added in naked and Willow and Tara's blushes..Taking off his glasses he began polishing them. "Oh yes um I believe I may know the ah ritual you are speaking of. I do not believe we would need the details of that. Infact I am certain of it." Willow and Tara while still blushing looked very relieved. "However please tell us anything else about the demons appearance."

Willow nodded her head. "It really did look like Xander. Only like he was still in highschool. Definitely younger. I mean he looked younger than the real Xander. And he was just standing there watching us. And he knew my name!" Willow continued. "When he called my name I was so surprised and then seeing him there I threw the crystal at him, but because it hadn't finished charging it didn't do anything. Than I got really angry because this demon was impersonating Xander he was there and Tara and I were ya know doing the ritual thing. And I got really really angry and my magic started to build up. It looked upset and then disappeared in this glowing bluish white balls of light."

"So your magic scarred it off Willow? That's good news right Giles?" Buffy said.

"Yes it is possible that while being extremely strong even stronger than the slayer this demon is less well protected from magical attacks." Giles expounded, "Indeed this may give us the tool we are looking for to defeat this demon. I believe it is prudent that from now until we defeat this demon you and Willow should stay together Buffy. That way if it attacks you can fight it while Willow tries to harm it with magic."

Buffy nodded, "Ok Giles I think we can do that. But what about mom? I don't want her to be in danger if something you know is after us."

Joyce spoke up, "Well perhaps Tara could stay with me? That way I am around someone who knows magic too." While Joyce was not sure of what was going on these 'attacks' did not seem like any other attacks she had seen her daughter come through before. And the chance to be alone with Tara and find out what was happening was too good to pass up.

Tara shook her head, "I can do that. I mean stay with your mom Buffy. I can even start preparing another crystal although it will take longer to get ready because it will have to charge naturally."

While Anya was listening to the stories both Buffy and Willow told. She felt like she was missing something. Most demons were no where nearly powerful enough to be as dangerous as WHistler claimed this one to be.. And the description of the floating lights sounded familiar but off somehow. She just could not remember where she had heard something like that before.

Just as everyone was feeling their tensions ease as they now had some ideas or maybe thoughts of a plan. The door to the Magic Shop shattered, as it was kicked in. A large demon in a brown cloak came in. The hood of the cloak fell back and the demon's brown scab like skin was visible. The skin looked cracked and yellow blood seeped out. "Slayer, now you will die at my hands." In its hands it held a rod and pointed it at Buffy.

Just as the blinding light from the rod hit Buffy. She was thrown backwards. Once the light died down, everyone was surprised to see there were now two Buffies. Anya yelled excitedly. "I was right it's a Ferula Gemina!" One of the Buffy's had a savage look on her face as she jumped and attacked the demon.

From a prone position on the floor... from almost ten feet away. And she hit him with a double fist to the head..

Buffy tore into the demon, there was none of her usual skill. Just blind fury as she pounded on the demon. "Kill, kill, kill" The Tothic demon was bloodied within the first few moments but quickly recovered and started hitting back. Powerful blows connect with Buffy's skull and face. Blood was flowing from the crushing shot to her nose. Her lips were split open and her eyes already bruising. But Buffy didn't stop. If anything the injuries seemed to enrage her more.

Giles seeing what was happening called out, "Buffy we need it alive!" Buffy ignored him. Continuing to trade blows with the demon. A vicious kick to the demon left leg shattered its knee. Buffy followed up with a roundhouse kick that would have taken off its head. But the tothic demon raised the rod in both hands and used it to block the kick. The force of the blow knocked it back three feet. "Willow, Tara we need that crystal now!" Giles called out. Willow yelped.

"Crystal right." Opening her purse she grabbed the crystal and went to throw it at the demon. As the crystal sailed through the air. Buffy was moving in for the kill at the same time.

Buffy was faster, much faster.

Jumping on the fallen demon she almost casually battered it's arms away.

Grabbing it's skull while straddling its body. Her legs pinning it's now broken arms to the the ground. She Twisted and pulled the demon's head. The Demon screamed in pain it's body trying to buck off the feral slayer. Buffy grinned a savage smile, with a last mighty heave she pulled the demon's head off even as at the same time she crushed it between her hands. Yellow blood fountained from the corpse covering her in the viscous liquid. A primal scream tore from Buffy's throat. The Slayer had won again.

The crystal hit the blood covered Buffy. A bright light flashed as the crystal broke. The salt of the crystal falling to the ground around Buffy creating the base of the energy cage. As the light returned to normal. Everyone could see Buffy standing inside the energy cage. Covered in yellow blood. She began pounding the sides of the cage screaming in fury.

Back where Buffy had originally fallen, Buffy stood up. "Giles what is going on? Is that some kind of a demonic version of me? Is it the same thing that was done to Xander?" Buffy was keeping back from the glowing cage and looking at Giles for answers.

"No," Anya butted in. "The Ferula Gemina does not create demons. It only splits someone into two parts. Usually their strong aspects verses their weak aspects." Savage Buffy continued to howl bounding on the energy walls of the cage.

"That's not me!" Buffy cried. "Look at it. It doesn't even act human. It acts like it's a demon."

"Well duh blondie," Anya condescendingly replied. "What do you think the slayer was created from." She looked smug as she finished speaking.

"Giles that's not true is it?" Buffy turned to Giles hoping he would have a better answer.

"Uhm yes in some of the oldest legends of the slayer. It is said that the Elders of the time, the wise men, shamans and witches captured a powerful demon. They stripped it of it's power and placed it in a young girl. Her very nature would prevent the power from corrupting her. Binding the demon to the cause of humanity to serve as a protector."

Buffy shook her head, "No, you mean I am some kind of a demon? That can't be true. Why wouldn't you have told me this?"

"Buffy I am sorry they were only legends. And I did not want to hurt you with the pain that thinking that you contained a demon might cause you. It is also one of the reasons that slayers must be so careful about killing humans. The demon's power reveals and grows when humans are killed by the host." Giles paused. Considering if he should continue he decided that at this point honesty was the best policy. "It is for this reason that usually if a slayer encounter human evil that threatens the world it is her watcher's duty to kill the human. At least we are able to spare our slayers that pain."

Buffy shook her head, trying to deny what she had just heard, and the evidence before her eyes. "Well that thing is out of me and you're not putting it back. I don't want to be a demon!"

"Then you want to Die?" Anya asked in a curious tone of voice.

"What," Everyone else seemed to say at once.

"What do you mean Anya?" Giles asked for clarification.

"Simple really Giles. I mean I told you what the Ferula Gemina does. It splits a being into two parts," Anya replied. Looking at him as if he was an idiot for forgetting.

"Forgive me Anya but what does that have to do with Buffy dying?" Giles asked.

"Really you don't get it? It splits one person into two. But they are still the same person. If one of them dies they both do." Anya stated the obvious.

"Good Lord," Giles replied in a shocked voice. Looking at Buffy with tender eyes.

Buffy started crying, "No I don't want to be have a demon inside of me." She fell to her knees sobbing. Joyce rushed to her daughter gathering her in her arms.

"Buffy it will be alright." She said, stoking the sobbing slayer's hair. Giving the comfort that a parent does so well.

"Bu Buffy will be alright. Even with a demon inside of you, you can still be a good person." Tara said her eyes filled with unshed tears. "I know that the demon can't stop you or, or anyone from being good." She found herself shying away from revealing her last secret to everyone.

"Buffy my dear girl, you are one of the longest lived slayers in the last thousand years. And your innate character your love for your friends and family have not been tarnished by having the slayer spirit inside of you. That will not change!" Giles finished his statement, love for the young woman he considered almost as a daughter shining through his eyes.

Willow nodded and went up to hug Buffy. "It will be alright I know you will still be you. The same Buffy you have been for years. My girl best friend and protector."

The kindness, compassion and caring reached the heart of the distraught girl. Right now Buffy might not be the slayer but she was Buffy Summers. She would not be afraid. "Alright, what do I have to do." She looked at her mentor, watcher and almost father.

Giles sighed, "I am not sure. Anya are you aware of how to reverse this effect?"

Anya shook her head saying, 'Well it's fairly easy to reverse. But once Buffy and other Buffy are back together it may be few hours before she wakes up. It's very tiring on a body to be split in two."

Anya proceeded to outline what they had to do. Using the rod that was still on the ground and luckily had not shattered under Savage Buffy's attacks. Giles picked it up pointing it towards the area where Buffy was still contained he said, "As soon as you disrupt the cage, I shall fire the rod at you. Don't worry Buffy it will be fine." The last was said with a tender smile on his lips.

Buffy moved towards the Savage slayer part of herself. As she approached the other Buffy started calming down she hunched down as if waiting to pounce as soon as she got the opportunity. The cuts and bruises she had received from her fight with the Tothic demon had already healed. Buffy was surprised to see that because they never healed that fast normally.

Stepping to just out of reach of the cage, Buffy paused then leapt at her other self. As her body hit the cage the energy barrier broke up. Savage Buffy was jumping towards Buffy at the same time. But the look on her face showed that it was not to hug her. Grabbing Buffy's arm Savage Buffy's fist was already coming towards Buffy's face when the light from the rod hit them. Once again a bright blinding light filled the room. When it cleared a single Buffy was standing. For just a moment before she fell to the Ground unconscious.

"Buffy" everyone except Anya cried out. Rushing to the girl on the ground.

Anya cried out at the same time as well, but not Buffy's name. She remembered! She remembered what had been bugging her earlier. The thing she knew but could not recall. Her excited yell of "I REMEMBER!" had everyone conscious turning towards her smiling face. As she remembered her smile faltered and suddenly a look of fear came over her. "Oh no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no."

Giles seeing this grabbed a panicking Anya. "Anya what is it? What is wrong?"

"Giles I remembered where I had heard something similar to the demon we were talking about earlier." She paused gulping for air, "This is bad, so bad. This is worse than the Mayor's Ascension BAD!"

Giles, Willow and Tara looked at Anya. Joyce from where she was caring for her daughter looked up. "Anya please explain what do you remember?"

Anya took a deep breath, "When I first became a Justice demon, within the first few years. I had a client who was a sh'loc'tang demon. They look very human and a human male had taken advantage of her then tried to have the other villagers kill her after he was done using her. After her wish was completed and justice had been served. The clan wise woman prepared a feast of thanks for me. I ended up staying there with them for several months and the wise woman told me their stories and legends. One of the legends talked about the disappearing ones. As they called them. They were incredibly powerful. Only the most powerful demon Lords could stand against them. They could get in anywhere no wards or spells would keep them out and they were almost impossible to kill. Infact for centuries no one could ever kill them. They had powers to turn themselves into light colored balls and move to anywhere on Earth or in any of the Hells.

They were unstoppable until the coming of Ra. The gods and goddesses of ancient Egypt came down to live among the people. They brought hope and prosperity, and when the disappearing ones started to attack Ra, confident in their own invincibility. Ra and the gods fought back. He endowed special warrior priests called Joe-Fars with the secret of how to defeat them. Most of the warrior priest were helpless before them. But for a few special priests who had proven their loyalty and devotion. To them Ra gave the ability to fight and kill the disappearing ones." The battles lasted almost a thousand years and at the end the disappearing ones were destroyed but Ra and the gods were also almost destroyed they were so weakened that, They had to return to the Heavens taking with them their most loyal Joe-Fars priests and warriors."

"My word you think this demon is one of the disappearing ones?" Giles asked.

"No you don't understand I looked for more about the story, I thought it was interesting. Until I finally found the truth. The disappearing ones was only what the sh'loc'tang called them. You me and every other human would call them another name." She paused, "Angels.. They are Fallen Angels. Cast out of the Heavens but still incredibly powerful. We can't stop them. Only a God can stop one of them." Anya finished

Alright I hope everyone enjoyed that I should have the next chapter up either today {Later Today} or early tomorrow. Because nothing is more fun that Xander playing with himself. Erh wait that came out wrong.

I want to thank everyone who has reviewed the questions and comments really sparked

And yes that nagging muse supplied answers to how the elders and whitelighters died. And I found out this is a Buffy/Stargate universe. And I hope some of you guess what could kill a white or dark lighter that the Goa'uld would have. And it ain't a zat or staff weapon.

And yeah I had my first fight scene that I was really worried about writing in this chapter.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

And a Huge thanks to ajw his story  Story-28512/ajw+A+New+  was what really inspired my idea of Xander as a whitelighter.

Chapter 6 Me, Myself and Faith

Looking down at Xander's comatose body Xander sighed. "Ok me I think we need to see about getting me off the floor." Xander snarked. Reaching toward his other self, blue lights began to crackle and ark over the unconscious Xander's body. A small spark hit Xander's outstretched hand. "Ouch," exclaimed Xander. Shaking his hand in pain, "Holy twinkies that smarts." Xander tried to move closer but the sparks and electrical discharges were increasing in size and ferocity. After being hit several more time Xander was forced to back away.

The sparks became so intense he couldn't see his other self, but he could hear him. Xander had woken up during the light show and was currently screaming. These were not the small screams of pain but one continuous scream. Only pausing as Xander tried to gulp air into his body. After almost five minutes the lights and the screams died away.

Xander moved towards his alternates unconscious body. He could see blood around and on Xander's lips and face. He had screamed his throat raw and bloody. Looking at his arms and legs Xander could tell that muscle spasms had snapped bones. Reaching out to him, Xander focus his healing powers. Willing his alternate self to heal. He could feel the massive amounts of damage currently killing Xander.

Luckily for both of the Xanders they were not on Earth. On Earth even a whitelighters abilities would not be enough to save Xander. But here in the Elder's domain the seat of the whitelighters power. Here the very walls would reach out to aid the whitelighter.

It seemed like an eternity to Xander as he poured in energy healing the damage that had been done. Any damage Xander had suffered was healed. It did not matter if it was from his most recent injury or injures he had suffered long ago at the hands of his parents. All of them were wiped away by the combined power of the whitelighter and the Elder's domain. Xander was relieved to see his alternate self finally looking health. He was sleeping. And not a coma sleep but just a light natural sleep. Looking at him Xander realized he had the greatest opportunity in the history of everything in front of him. Leaning down by Xander's ear he said in his sexist come hither voice, "Hey there sexy, You ready to go again?" As he gently stroke his own face.

Xander was sleeping, it felt so good and refreshing. If he could think right now he would not be able recall a single time in his life when he felt this at peace. This safe or this healthy. Nothing ached his body was sending signals to his brain indicating how good it felt. He started to wake up feeling Anya stroking his face. Then he heard a voice, "Hey there sexy, You ready to go again." His brain was smiling then it registered. That wasn't Anya's voice. That was a man's voice.

"Gah, What who augh." Xander shot awake. Pushing the man who was kneeling beside him to the ground. Opening his eyes Xander confirmed a guy had just called him sexy and propositioned him. And he didn't recognize where he was. "Augh What? Where?" Looking at the man on the floor next to him. "Augh Who are you?"

Xander couldn't believe it. This was too good. His alternate self had not recognized him yet. Thankfully he wasn't yelling demon yet either. "Give it time!' the voice in his head said. Turning to look at himself he put on his best puppy dog eyes and quivered his lip, "Xander baby don't you recognize me?"

Xander heard that and his brain started panicking in fear. "Gauh, ah ah sorry." by a strange yet serendipitous event as Xander said sorry. His brain finally shifted into gear. After the last four plus years of fighting on the Hellmouth his brain was used to fear and panic. It was his normal operating environment. The signals started coming through. First guy on the floor next to us looks really familiar, checking memory banks. Oh sweet twinkies he is us only younger. Checking the room they were in it was huge like some kind of grand hall with white marble columns and hey the ceiling isn't..it's clouds but this is a room. "Augh DEMON, Crap am I DEAD? I'm dead aren't I?"

The other demon Xander started laughing. And not a evil I shall conquer the world, ask me how laugh. It was the laugh of someone who had really just pulled a awesome joke. This was a new experience for Xander. He was used to threats, monologues and evil laughs about how he would be killed. But this, this did not compute. Because of that it probably helped more than anything else to calm his panicked brain down.

Watching this other guy, who every time he seemed to have his laughter under control would start chortling and snickering just by looking at him. Xander finally had had enough. "If you don't shut up I'm going to deck you!" he said.

"But then people will have to keep asking you, Why are you hitting yourself?" the other guy snarked back at him.

"Hey I'm the wise guy and comic relief here!" Xander indignantly proclaimed. "Just who in the Hellmouth are you?"

The other guy finally calmed down and seemed to get serious. "I'm you, sort of, kind of maybe. I'm pretty sure I'm from a alternate reality but it is also possible I've been sent back in time to save the world and to do that I need you to give me all your twinkies..," he snorted.

"Your me? Really then anywhere but here?" Xander asked.

"Easy one used to be Amy Yipp, white bikini, water park. Now a days it would be with the love of my life." Xander said, "Because once you find the ONE, you won't have any place else you would ever rather be than by her side."

"Whoa, that's kinda deep. You look younger than me how did I get deep?" Xander asked.

"Right this will take some time so I recommend sitting down." Xander said.

"Ah sort of sitting on the floor here, how much more sitting down can I get?" Xander snarked back.

"Oh you would be surprised." And with a quick mental call twin lazy boys appeared by them.

"Ah how'd you do that? Just making stuff appear is like Q level crazy power." Xander said as he picked himself off the floor and took the seat opposite himself.

"Patience my young padawan all we be explain." Xander said. "Ok to start with I think I am kind of you but from an alternate world. Reason I am thinking that is in part because right now we are in a piece of Heaven. Were my bosses used to work."

"Heaven, bosses you,.. I work for like God? Or are we talking St. Peter, Gone with an Angel type of deal?" Xander interrupted.

"More like my bosses were Heavenly VPs. We call them The Elders. Notice the capital letters. They were in charge of all of us whitelighters." Seeing Xander starting to open his mouth to ask what a whitelighter is. Xander held up his hand, 'I'm mostly kinda you so hold the questions. I'm pretty sure I know what you're going to ask anyway. And if I miss one we will come back to it. We good with that?"

Xander nodded, "Yeah I'll try to not but in, but Holy GeeJosephats this is so beyond weird that I don't think we have a word for it."

"Yeah sort of a first for me, meeting myself that is. And no not going to explain that one it's not important. Back on subject. Whitelighters,.. we're a type of guardian angel. And by angel I mean the Heavenly kind not the dark and broodsome kind. Whitelighters are people who died, and yes I died. But instead of going on up to Heaven they agree to hang around helping to guide good witches future whitelighter candidates and the odd champion or two. When I was a senior did you go through that whole sisterhood of Jhe thing?"

Xander nodded his head, "Yup."

"Did you have and survive the showdown with Jack O'Toole?"

"Again with the yes on that one."

"Well I didn't. After I convinced him to disarm the bomb he kinda killed me..a little. And by a little I mean all the way. So as I was passing into the great beyond, pining for the fjords, I was stopped by an Elder. He had a job offer for me. Come back as a whitelighter to watch over Buffy, and Willow. I'd have powers to help heal them and a few other things but I couldn't help them fight. At all!"

"That would suck."

"Yeah kinda did but I was able to be there to help fix them if they got hurt and try to keep them on the right path. Plus having the power to orb, a kind a teleportation and heal them was a win. Also after I pointed out to the Elders that Faith had no one helping her, well they assigned her to me too. After the shock of finding out there was a second slayer wore off."

"Wait so you were playing guardian Angel to Buffy, Faith and WIllow?"

"Yup, Amy too."

"What no Cordy? I mean you almost had a complete set right?"

"Yeah after the fluke even with me being an Angel notice the capital letter. Cordy was not huge on the forgiveness side. But we don't have time to screw around. So I was the whitelighter for all my girls. We fought evil good times were had by all. Eventually things happened I could not stop. But over all worth every moment of pain. So the other day I'm out with my girl. We are celebrating. She is smiling that gorgeous smile of hers, and of course a Demon attacks. I see the demon, but her back is turned to it so she doesn't. So I dive towards her pushing her out of the way of the energy ball attack. "

As he relates the story Xander recalls the dream he had before the massive amounts of pain. "Faith," He blurts out "You were with Faith weren't you? I saw you and her, you were kissing, then a funky demon that sort of rippled into place."

"Yeah," the whitelighter Xander replies. Shocked that Xander knew that. "Not sure how you know that but yeah that happened. Only thing is after the energy ball hit me it's night time and I pass out somewhere strange. Next thing I know it's morning and I wake up in a junkyard. In Sunnydale which from my point of view is impossible because my Sunnydale was destroyed a few years before the thing with the demon happened. Not going to go into that because I don't think it will help you at all and we don't have forever." Xander says.

The other Xander interrupted again, "That night in the junkyard I was hit by this light thing the demon we were after was aiming at that might have had something to do with what happened to you?"

"Possibly? Maybe? Probably? But until we fix up some other things I don't think it's worth dwelling on. Anyway I figure I was caught up in maybe time travel of vengeance demon's alternate reality trip. So I start trying to figure it out. That leads me here, and I find no whitelighters no Elders the place felt like it had been vacant along time. Hard to tell because you don't get dust in Heaven. So I search for Faith. I find her in a hospital room in a coma. Not one of my happiest moments since I got here, let me tell you."

"Yeah I'm not happy about it either, especially not how she got there." Xander agrees.

"Well seeing her like that and knowing I have healing mojo, I figure go to her wake her up and find out what's going on. Only I arrive and Buffy bursts in on me. She was a surprise, see back home she didn't make it. So my first words to her might not have been my smartest ones."

Xander thinks, for a moment and says. "Let me guess something along the lines of 'You're Dead?' Right?"

"Got it in one. She of course seeing me and hearing those words decides I was threatening her and attacks."

Xander laughs, "Yeah Buffster seems to rush in a lot. One of the things I wish she would stop doing. I seem to get hurt more often when she does that."

"Well rather than face a very angry Buffy who won't calm down until I am a nice smear of paste on the floor. I grab Faith and Orb out of there." Xander pauses. "You really need to hear what happened next. See I get up here with Faith and this guy appears calls himself Whistler. He claims I have to take her back because she has a destiny and the Powers that Be Pricks don't like anyone messing with their plans. I turn around and he's shocked to see our gorgeous mug. Starts going off on how much of a pain in the ass you are. How you kept screwing up plans. I manage to get him drop a few pieces of really important information.

Piece One, night your Faith tried to choke you to death. If Angel hadn't got there she would have stopped and realized you really cared about her. Would have screwed up their entire plan for her. So they sent Angel to interrupt and seal the deal for them.

Piece Two Whistler called you a Nexus of Chaos seems you have the ability to screw destiny over and he was pissed he could just kill you because that would be even worse for him. So instead he mind fucked everyone around you. From what he said Buffy and the gang by this time should have completely lost all respect for you and they are actively encouraged to ignore you.

Piece Three not the first time he's done it He did something a lot similar to Buffy's Mom and Dad. Dad didn't want to move wasn't getting with the plan suddenly he's getting divorced because he cheated on Joyce and Joyce is left heartbroken. Said cheating never actually happening. But plans in place and the Pricks are happy because Buffy is in Sunnydale.

Piece Four they did worse to Faith. Said it was her destiny to go to the darkside. The isolated her and then tricked her into signing a deal with Wilkins. The deal meant she had to do whatever Wilkins wanted her to. No free will left. Oh and they need her back downstairs because when she wakes up Wilkins left a present that when she gets it, will force her to follow whatever that plan is before she's freed from the contract.

So any questions?" Xander asked his fuming counterpart.

Xander was well passed pissed off pissed off wasn't even on the map anymore. Ok the Pricks that be had screwed him over. Like that's something new? But these guys made their last mistake they hurt his girls. "Yeah I have a few questions? Where's Faith now? How do we fix her and the others? And finally how do we kill the Powers that Be and Whistler?

"Well Faith is up here with us. She's still out because I was worried about the compulsions on her. I tried to get a witch to help but when I went to get her. I uh found her with someone. And uh because of that I have to ask, Since when has Willow been gay? Or at least Bi."

Xander did a spit take, "Whaa what are you talking about? Willows not gay or into girls. I mean she would have told me."

Xander looked at him, "One Mind Fucked. Two she was very into the hot blonde she was with. Who was not Buffy, because hey I know our mind and we don't need to go there. But the blonde was the witch I was trying to get help from. So do you know if Willow knows any hot blonde witches?"

Xander sputtered, "Hot blonde and a witch I mean I know she had a new friend named Tara and she was a witch but really?

Xander smirked, "Oh yeah and just FYI they are both naturals."

Xander froze his mind imagining details that he really shouldn't be imagining about his Willow. The other Xander chuckled, "You need to reboot. We have work to do. So I can wake Faith up now and she might or might not go postal, we have two things working for us here. This place and whitelighters seem to calm slayers down. Fact is I would rather have had the blonde girl Tara here but when I couldn't get her I got you. So you willing to chance it?"

Xander looked at his Whitelighter counterpart and said, "You know me better than anyone it seems, so why even ask. Let's go get our girl. But you still haven't said what the plan is for fixing the others and killing the Pricks and Whistler."

Getting up the other Xander said, "Yup I haven't I think it's best to wait until we know where we stand with Faith don't you?" Leading the way he took Xander to the room Faith was laying in.

Walking up the bed both Xanders looked down at the young woman they both cared for. The native Xander as someone he now knew he would have had something special with if not for the Powers interference, and the other Xander because she looked so much like his Faith.

"Why don't you stand at the foot of the bed. I have to be by her chest so maybe if she see's the two of us she might pause long enough to let us talk before she tries to kill us."

"Alright, but how about while you're doing the mojo thing I just talk to her. I mean maybe it will help if she hears some talking. Every week I've gone to her room and just spent an hour talking to her sometimes reading to her. Trying to let her know she's ok and she needs to wake up."

"Couldn't hurt," replied Xander. "Let's do this." He placed one hand on Faith's stomach and the other on her head. Closing his eyes to concentrate while he worked the other Xander started to speak.

"Hey Faith, look I know you're probably going to be scared and freaked out when you wake up. But it'll be alright. No one here wants to hurt you. It just me and well me. And both of us care about you being healthy and happy. I won't lie to you it's not going to be easy. The Powers screwed you over. See they wanted everything that happened to you to happen. Seems they have some big plan for you and they didn't want you to do anything else. So they tricked you into signing up with the Mayor. And once you signed they took away your ability to say no to anything the guy wanted you to do. And right now you might feel like you still have to follow his orders, but we are going to fix that as soon as we can. We just need a really good witch. I know you might think why not Willow, well see the Powers have been screwing with her and everyone else's minds too. But the other me thinks he has a line on a witch that can help. If she doesn't kill him. Seems when he tried to get her he caught her naked with someone else, he says it's Willow but I think he's just screwing with me."

Faith was in her apartment. Except it wasn't her place. She knew that it was just a stop over. Soon someone would be here for her. And then things would get better. She wasn't sure why. But yeah not too long now. She jerked up and smiled as someone knocked on the door. Rushing over to the door she smiled a big smile as she opened it and said, "Yo X you're finally here!" Standing in the open door was Buffy.

"Sorry Faith it's just me" Buffy said.

"Why are you here B you don't usually visit. In fact I don't think you've come by once since that last time I was getting ready to move."

"Well I guess I've been busy. Things happen you know." Buffy said.

"Yeah things. Thing is the Xanman manages to come over pretty regular like. I hear him talking wanting to come in but I can't let him in. You not so much never heard you at all. Seems you got more important things to do than visit. Unless you need something. So why are you here B?"

"Not really sure Faith. Whistler said you were in danger. And that some big baddy was coming after us both. And I'm sorry about what happened Faith. I saw what's inside of us, and for a little bit I didn't want to fight or prove who's better. And I missed the Faith that was becoming my friend when you first arrived in Sunnydale. What happened Faith? What happened to all of us?"

From outside the apartment Buffy and Faith hear Xander's voice.

"Hey Faith, look I know you're probably going to be scared and freaked out when you wake up. But it'll be alright. No one here wants to hurt you. It just me and well me."

Buffy starts shaking her head, "No Whistler warned us about the demon that looks like Xander it wants to destroy the slayers forever."

Xander's voice continued, " And both of us care about you being healthy and happy. I won't lie to you it's not going to be easy. The Powers screwed you over. See they wanted everything that happened to you to happen. Seems they have some big plan for you and they didn't want you to do anything else. So they tricked you into signing up with the Mayor. And once you signed they took away your ability to say no to anything the guy wanted you to do."

"What?" Buffy looked at Faith is that true.

Faith nodded and said, "Yeah didn't you see the collar over by the door. I leave here it goes on."

" And right now you might feel like you still have to follow his orders, but we are going to fix that as soon as we can. We just need a really good witch."

Buffy looked at Faith, "Well if that's true Willow should be able to help."

"Like Red would help me out. She's hated me since the day I got to the Dale. Afraid that I'd take it all away from her. And after she found out me and boytoy hooked up? She probably would've been happy to see me dead."

"You slept with Xander?" Buffy asked shocked that she never knew that.

"Sure like he didn't tell you." Faith said.

"He never said a word. I don't think Willow knows either."

"You telling me he never bragged to anyone?"

"Xander wouldn't do that!" Buffy protested. "He just helps people than never tries to make a big deal of it."

"Maybe I was wrong about boytoy then." Faith said impressed by Buffy's testimonial of Xander's character.

"I know you might think why not Willow, well see the Powers have been screwing with her and everyone else's minds too." Xander's voice continued.

Faith looked at Buffy, "That true?"

Buffy looked at the door, "I think so look over there. See the straight jacket? I think I have to wear that when I leave here."

"B that is seriously messed up."

"Yeah I'm not sure what it's doing to me but I don't think it's a good thing."

"But the other me thinks he has a line on a witch that can help. If she doesn't kill him. Seems when he tried to go get her he caught her naked with someone else, he says it's Willow but I think he's just screwing with me."

Buffy and Faith looked at each other and at the same time yelled out in surprise, "Willow's Gay!"

The apartment shattered around them.

Two women wake up at the exact same moment. Both surrounded by friends and loved ones. Even if they don't realize it. Buffy is with Giles, her mom, Willow and Tara standing over the Bed she's lying on.

Faith is lying in a bed with one Xander who has his hands on her healing her the other slightly older Xander is at the foot of her bed. Both women open their eyes sitting bolt upright in their beds yelling out, "WILLOW's GAY!"

But in only one room does a certain red head hear that and have her eyes roll up in her head as she passes out.

As Xander picks himself up from where Faith had knocked him down, when she sat up. The other Xander started laughing. Of all the things he had been saying to Faith she picked up on Willow's gay. He said to Faith between bouts of laughter. "Is that the only thing you heard me say?"

"Laugh it up Boytoy," Faith said. "I heard a lot of stuff you said. Today's not the first time you been talking to me is it? Now where am I? Cause I gotta tell you feels almost as good here as it did in where I was. And while part of me says I should be hurting you right now. It's not as strong as it was before the fight with Buffy. But the Boss had told me I wasn't allowed to kill you. Anyone else it was fine but you were off limits. I could rough you up but no permanent damage. You know why he said that? Also you want to tell me why I'm seeing double here? Cause B said one of you is a demon trying to destroy the slayers. But I'm not feel'n anything demon here"

Both Xander's looked surprised at Faith's revelation. The younger looking Xander started talking. "It's not going to be simple but truth is I'm not a demon in fact I came from the other side. Angelic even."

"You're shitting me right? You're an angel and why are you looking like Boytoy?" Faith looked sceptical but at the same time like she was ready to start laughing once she got the punchline.

"Nope I'm the real deal Faith. In my world I died but came back as a Angel, a special kind of angel my job was to take care of Champions."

"What like B and Fangs?"

"Well Buffy was one of my charges, Angel not on your or his life. He's a demonically animated corpse. I'm a real Angel. For some reason he really didn't like being around me. But no one of my other charge was you Faith. Because you are a champion."

Faith shook her head no, "Sorry you got the wrong girl here. I went bad killed a guy and worked for the boss. That sound like a champion to you. Sure as shit doesn't to me."

Xander shook his head, grabbing her hand. "Wrong Faith, Allen Finch was an accident. And as for you signing up with Wilkins. You were screwed by the powers. The wanted you to go bad and worked to remove every avenue of help you had." Holding her hand he saw Faith relaxing just a little. "Your Xander went to you to help, you remember that night?"

Faith ducked her head, "Fuck I almost killed Boytoy if it weren't for Angel I would have too. Right there proves I'm bad."

Xander put a hand on her shoulder, "Sorry Faith but that's not true see Whistler had to scramble to get Angel there. I heard it straight from him. They knew that you would stop yourself from hurting your Xander and if that happened you would also have known someone really cared about you Faith, not just for the Rock'in Bod but because you're you Faith Lehane the complete package."

Faith jerked her head up, "How do you know that name, I never told Boytoy my last name. Never told any of them my name?"

The whitelighter smiled at her, "Simple in my world I've been with my Faith for years now."

"So that's why you want to help me then. Miss'n your piece and figure to get soma me?"

"No Faith and you know it's not my reason. Sure I love you, I love my Faith no matter what dimension or funky alternate reality she's in and I will always try to help her. Cause she's my Faith." The whitelighter proclaimed, point back to the other Xander he said. "And he's the exact same."

Faith shook her head, "No way Boytoy may be hot for the bod, but that ain't love."

"You're right Faith that's not love. Love is coming every week to visit you. Sitting with you and talking to you. Bringing you flowers to try and brighten the room you were in. And putting a stuffed biker Snoopy in your arms so that even if he wasn't there you didn't have to be alone. That's the love I'm talking about."

"How'd you know about that?" Xander asked astonished that the whitelighter knew what he was sure no one else knew. Sure he had told him about visiting and talking to Faith, but not about the flowers or the Snoopy doll. Faith looked stunned, as if someone had taken a two by four to her head.

"Simple your me." Xander replied. "There was no way you weren't going to do something like that. Plus, Angel here! I have mad skills."

Faith was sitting not really hearing anything else, according to an honest to f-ing God Angel, Boytoy loved her. And not just for the bod, he loved her enough to just be there. She didn't know what to think no one had ever cared for her like that. Sure DD had cared about her but she knew the only reason DD took her in was because of her being a potential and then The Slayer.

Looking at Faith, Xander could tell he was getting though to some part of her. Greatest part of the job helping someone find the right path. "So Faith, yeah your Xander loves you. Just accept it. You don't need to do anything to earn it. Now back to your other questions, RIght now you're in what some would call a small piece of Heaven. It's probably why you feel so calm and safe."

"Heaven? You're shittin me right? No way I'm getting into Heaven." Faith said.

"You are in a piece of Heaven, think of it as a side room. Not the main Heaven, sort of Heaven with a small h."

"Ugh ok I guess." Faith said.

"Now you're last big question was why Xander was off limits? Well from what I found out Whistler called him a 'Nexus of Chaos' notice the capital letters there."

"What's a Nexus of Chaos and why would that matter," Faith asked

Followed by Xander's own question, "Yeah not really getting what's so big about it myself."

Xander laughed a friendly chuckle, "Usually not that big a deal. Unless you're a big player. Then you do not want to get in the way of a Nexus, any Nexus. See Nexus literally means gathering place, in mystical terms a gathering place for power you screw those up and the power can explode. Now add in the other part of Chaos, means without even trying you are going to screw with the big players plans. When it comes to Destinies if you know what you're doing you can shred them. So you can guess why the Pricks that Be don't want you around their toys?"

"So you're saying Boytoy here bends destiny over just by being in the same room?"

Xander nodded with a big smile, "Yup. Now we just need to figure out how to use that for ourselves and destroy the plans they have for all of you."

I really had to stop the chapter here. I hope you enjoyed it also if you thought Xander was a bit to jokester with himself Xander always diffused tense situation with inappropriate comments or jokes. How could he not do that to himself.

Really did not see the dream sequence coming. That sort of just unfolded as I started to wake Faith up. Also blue lights coming off Xander yup know what it is just did need it to be addressed yet


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, StarGate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Big Thank you to RafMereC for the recommendation.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 7 Are you a God?

"No you don't understand I looked for more about the story, I thought it was interesting. Until I finally found the truth. The disappearing ones was only what the sh'loc'tang called them. You me and every other human would call them another name." She paused, "Angels.. They are Fallen Angels. Cast out of the Heavens but still incredibly powerful. We can't stop them. Only a God can stop one of them." Anya finished.

Hearing Anya's declaration. Everyone froze for a moment. Giles grasping his glasses tightly did not even pretend to be cleaning them. Joyce was one of the first ones to recover. "Rupert, why would Whistler tell Buffy she had to kill this thing. If it is a Fallen Angel, then wouldn't he know that only a God could kill one? Would he give her an impossible task?"

Giles paused, "Yes that is an excellent point. I do not believe that the Powers would do that. Which means there must be a key to defeating this creature! We simply have to find it."

Everyone could easily agree with Giles. "Well shouldn't we start researching?" Willow asked.

"Before you start breaking out any books. Do you think we can move Buffy somewhere other than the floor?" Joyce asked looking at Giles.

Giles shook his head, "Ah yes I believe it would be best if we move Buffy into the back room. I have a small bed set up there in case there was ever any need for it."

Giles and Joyce moved Buffy back into the training room and placed her on the bed there. Joyce smiled down at her daughter. "Rupert I am not sure how much help I could be researching, So I will stay here with Buffy. If there is anything else I can help with please let me know." Giles nodded as he left the room.

Outside in the main stop area of the Magic Shop, Willow and Tara were already sitting down with several large tomes that they had retrieve from the loft. Anya was pacing back and forth seeing Giles she grabbed him and pulled him to the side. "Giles I want the rest of the money you promised me. I think it might be a good idea if I were to leave town for the next few weeks. And I will need the additional funds."

"Anya do you plan to run away every time there is a possible apocalypse? If so I feel it prudent to warn you that according to several books of prophecy we will be having two a year for the next few years." Giles paused looking for any reaction from Anya.

"Most of the apocalypses, you deal with are not really that bad, Giles. Yes their actions might kill a large number of people, but really it's not the end of the world even if, you call it an apocalypse. But now you might be taking on something only a God can kill. And I do not see any point to risking myself against a Fallen Angel."

"Anya what about your relationships here. Xander is missing still. And whilst we may not be the closest of friends, We do consider ourselves your friends. If you leave you may lose those friendships. Is running away worth that to you?" Giles asked

"There's a reason Lucifer rules one of the major Hell dimensions Giles. And it's not because of an amazing personality. Even cast out from one of the really powerful Heavenly Dimensions. Lucifer is so powerful that within days of being cast into that Hell He was the new ruler. So I will take my money now." Anya replied. "And don't think about skimping either. I was right about everything. The Tothic demon did use a Ferula Gemina and I showed you how to reverse the effects."

"I suppose you have fulfilled the spirit of our agreement, if not the letter of it." Giles said in a disappointed tone. "Very well let me grab my checkbook and I will take care of your payment."

"No need to do that," Anya said. "I prepared the check while you were in the back. Please just sign it." She handed the check to Giles, who reviewed it. Once it was signed and in Anya's hands she turned to leave. "Thank you Giles." With that Anya left the shop.

Turning back to Tara and Willow who were reading through various volumes he went over to work with them.

After almost an hour Willow looked up. "Giles, your collections seems to be very Heavy on the ancient Sumerian, Babylonian and Greek. But you only have a few works on Egypt."

"Yes unfortunately one can not be an expert in every field. That is why although I may only have a few books about the ancient Egyptians I endeavored to make sure they have the best scope of knowledge available."

Willow nodded, "That makes sense." And turned back to the books. After almost another hour they had opened every book in Giles small collection of Egyptian references. With a defeated sigh Willow put down her book. "I can't find anything here that helps. There are multiple references to Ra and his powers but the closest I could see is doesn't make any sense."

"What do you mean Willow?" Giles asked.

Willow picking up her notes, "Well in one of the books, if referred to how one of the Gifts of the gods made their chosen stronger. But that was all it said, there was no follow up. I couldn't find anything that could help us here." Willow finished in frustration.

'I see, I may have to reach out to some of my former colleagues to see if they know anything." Giles said.

"Giles, why do you have a book that says the pyramids were built by aliens." Tara asked.

Giles looked at her, "Ah well Tara, actually it was a Gift from a young man I knew. He was a student of Archeology and Ancient languages. In fact his father Melburn was a friend of my Fathers. We corresponded for several years, and when he wrote his book he sent me a copy as a gift."

"Aliens, but why aliens?" Willow asked. Clearly not understanding why Giles would have that book in the reference area.

"Willow many times when normal people are exposed to the supernatural they try to find some rational explanation for what they have seen. To many people the idea of aliens is more palatable than the idea of Demons." Giles continued. "It would not be wise to shrug off stories of aliens when you know the truth of this world."

Willow shaking her head said, "Well I guess that makes some sense. But we need more information and we are not getting it here." Willow suddenly got an excited look on her face. "Oh, oh I could try a few of the forums. Some one there may have something about the Joy-Fars and Ra."

"Willow what forums?" Giles asked.

"Oh just some forums on the web. I've gotten help before with understanding translations or phrases. I never tell them why just ask what a word means. General help you know. And I could ask if anyone know's any legends about the Ancient Egyptian god Ra and his Joy-Fars. Also anything about his enemies who appeared in a flash of light. That might be general enough to have someone come up with something." Willow finished her excitement shining through.

"Willow that might be too general," Tara added, "Maybe you should also say that the legend you heard said the Joy-Fars were stronger than normal men or specially blessed by the gods. Something like that."

"Ah yes, well that may be off some assistance to us," Giles conceded. "In the interim I would suggest we concentrate our efforts on any references to Angels we can find. Since these beings died out around the time of ancient Egypt, perhaps the Babylonian or Sumerian works might tell us more about their powers or how they operated. Although I would recommend you look for phrases such as 'messengers' or 'agents of the gods' the term 'Angel' may be too modern for our purposes."

In the back room Joyce had fallen asleep in the chair next to Buffy. Her hand resting lightly on Buffy's arm. Buffy's body started to twitch. This caused Joyce's hand to fall of waking the concerned mother. Watching Buffy for a few moments she could see that her daughter was fine, But seemed to be coming out of the deeper, exhausted sleep she had been in earlier.

Joyce heard Buffy mumble, "Sorry Faith" Joyce got up and quickly went to the door.

"Giles I think something may be happening." She called out from the doorway, while keeping one eye on Buffy. She moved back to Buffy's bedside.

Everyone else quickly came into the back room and gathered around Buffy. "What is happening Joyce," Giles asked.

"Buffy started moving and said something like 'Sorry Faith' I thought I should call you." Joyce said.

Right then Buffy mumbled again, "all of us." The gathered friends and family continued to watch as Buffy dreamed. "What?" she mumbled along with something that sounded like 'true'

Buffy seemed to be getting more agitated, they heard the words, Willow, help and helps but could not make sense of it.

"It's almost like she's talking to someone else," Joyce said."

Just then Buffy opened her eye's and sat up. Yelling out "WILLOW's GAY!" Willow hearing Buffy's loud proclamation followed the only sensible course of action her brain could think of. It was time to reboot, so her eyes rolled up in her head as she passed out.

Buffy, jumped out of the Bed and reached for Willow's fallen form. Tara was right beside her. Giles was busily cleaning his glasses. Whilst given what he had deduced earlier Buffy's rather loud proclamation was not a shock to him, it was also not a subject he had any wish to dwell on.

Buffy picked up the fallen witch and placed her on the now vacant bed. "Buffy, honey are you feeling alright?" Joyce asked in a concerned voice.

Buffy absently replied, "Yeah Mom, I feel fine."

"Well that is good to hear Buffy," Giles said. "Right before you awoke who were you talking to?"

"Uhm what do you mean Giles?" Buffy asked in confusion.

"Right before you woke up you said something like 'Sorry Faith' and mumbled Willow's name and help or helps." Joyce replied.

Joyce's words helped to spark Buffy's memory. "Oh yeah I was dreaming? And I was in Faith's apartment again. She was there waiting for someone to come for her. I,.. I think she was waiting for Xander." Buffy fell silent after finishing.

"Really," Giles commented. Joyce looked pensively at her daughter. "Buffy what else can you tell us about your dream?" Giles prompted after a moment.

"Uhm Faith asked me why I never visited, and I didn't really know what to say. She asked me what I wanted because I only ever came around when I need something. And that's not true is it?" She looked at Giles and her Mother for reassurance.

Joyce took Buffy's hand in her own."Honey it was just a dream don't read too much into it. Even if it is some kind of a mystical thing."

Buffy smiled at her mom, feeling comforted by her words. "I think I tried to warn Faith about the Demon Xander and what Whistler told me. And I heard Xander saying that nothing that Faith had done was her fault that she, Faith that is, was under a spell and something about Willow helping to fix it."

Now it was Giles turn to feel stunned, "Dear God in Heaven, if that is true what did I do?" He said to no one as he sunk into the vacated chair by Willow's bed.

"Rupert, what do you mean?" Joyce asked.

"After Faith killed Mr. Finch I was certain she had become a rogue slayer. That the power had corrupted her. Watchers very thoroughly taught the signs to look for. I did not even consider that she might have been placed under a spell of some sort. And I Bloody well should have!" Giles finished becoming angry at himself for his personal failure to look for answers.

"Giles does that mean Faith might not have been evil. Because she really seemed evil what with helping the mayor and almost killing Angel and kidnapping Willow." Buffy asked.

"Depending on the spell Faith might not have had any more control over herself and her choices then an automobile has as to where the driver takes it. At best she may have been an unwilling prisoner in her own mind, and at worst she may think she was in full agreement with whatever actions she was forced to take."

"Giles why would being a prisoner be better for her?" Buffy asked.

"Because Buffy if she was a prisoner in her mind then she will know she was not actually committing the acts that harmed her friends and other innocents. If however she thinks she did those acts willingly, once the spell is lifted she would suffer immense guilt for what she thought she had done of her own volition." Giles sighed, "We must find out if this is true. And to do that we must get Faith back! What else occurred in your dream Buffy?"

"Ah yeah, I think we were talking and somebody wanted me to wear this really ugly jacket. Oh and I think Faith slept with Xander."

"What" exclaimed Willow as that statement brought her back to consciousness.

Everyone turned to the girl. Who seeing everyone looking at her wondered for a moment why she was laying down. And then recalled Buffy loudly telling everyone that she was gay. She started to blush and found herself stammering, "How? Buffy how did you know?"

Buffy asked, "Know what? What do I know."

Willow grabbed Buffy's hand and pulled her close almost whispering, "You know, How did you know about me and Tara?"

Buffy didn't understand for a moment and then the rest of the dream seemed to fall into place, "Oh my God, " She said loudly, "You and Tara?" At this Tara was looking slightly uncomfortable, while she had no problem with her sexuality it was also not something she flaunted.

Willow, blushing profusely, but unwilling to lie looked at Buffy and said, "Yes it's only been a short time. But I,..I love her."

Buffy hearing this smiled and hugged Willow. "I'm so happy for you. You deserve to be happy."

"Aren't you upset that I'm well Gay now?" Willow asked.

"Ah Willow, Buffy perhaps you could have this conversation another time. Preferably when I am not present. I will only say that whilst this is a surprise. I hope that you and Tara are very happy with each other." Giles interrupted.

Buffy shooting Giles a dirty look says, "No matter what Willow I just want you to be happy. And if Tara makes you happy than I'm happy."

Tara is amazed at the love and acceptance she is seeing. Never in her own family could this have happened. As she feels tears of joy start to fall, Joyce comes over to her and hugs her. "Welcome to the family Tara." She says.

As everyone breaks up, from their heartfelt moment. Joyce says, "I think it would be a good idea if we get some lunch and I really think Giles everyone could use some time to refresh themselves. How about I go get us some food, I had a casserole in the fridge that I could heat up and bring back here along with some snacks and drinks."

"Mom that's great idea. While your gone I can use the shower and get cleaned up here." Buffy pauses, "But you can't go alone. Remember the Xander demon may come after you to get to me."

"Ah yes uhm we may have found some more information about that Buffy," Giles said. "According to Anya it may not be a demon at all. Rather she thinks that the description of your attacker matches that of a fallen angel."

"An Angel?" Buffy asks. "Wouldn't a fallen angel just be a demon."

Actually no it would not be the same thing." Giles replies as he prepares to explain the difference.

Joyce interrupts, "Giles before you get started catching Buffy up I am going to go. If it's alright with Tara she can come with me. While Willow stays with you two."

"Sure Mrs. Summers I'll go with you." Tara says.

"Uhm yes, very good. We will see you both when you get back then." Giles says.

Joyce and Tara leave together as Giles continues explaining everything they have found out to Buffy.

As Tara and Joyce get into Joyce's Jeep. After starting the car and pulling away, Joyce says,"Thank you for coming with me Tara. I really wanted to talk with you about what happened earlier with Buffy, Willow and Giles. Do you know why they are acting like they are about Xander?"

"Na No Not for sure Mrs. Summers" Tara says, "But I am sure that they are under some kind of spell."

Joyce nods, "Please Tara, call me Joyce. I've told Willow and Xander hundreds of times to call me Joyce. Mrs. Summers makes me feel ancient." Joyce finishes with a small laugh.

Tara laughs as well, "Oh OK I'll try to remember that Joyce." she says.

Joyce looks at her and says, "Thank you. Now what can we do if they are under a spell."

Tara thinks out loud as they are driving. "I'm really not sure. It would depend on what the reason for the spell was, what its intentions where , how long they have been under its effect. All of those things and more are really important to try and figure out how we can break the spell."

As Tara finished speaking both women fell silent pondering what they knew. The rest of the short drive to the Summers house was completed in silence. Arriving at home Joyce and Tara got out of the Jeep and entered inside.

"Tara,sit please" Joyce began as she sat down in the living room. "I think we can safely say this spell is meant to make them forget about Xander. Not forget who he is, like amnesia, but for them to forget how much he helps them. What I don't understand is why someone would want to do that. "

"Well," Tara said running with the thought. " you said earlier without Xander, people would have died. So maybe someone is trying to make it easier for them to kill Buffy or Willow." As she finished her thought Tara felt a cold spike of fear run through her. She had just found Willow and did not want to lose her.

Joyce also looked up with fear at the thought of losing her daughter. After the disaster with Hank's cheating Buffy really was all she had left. "So it would have to be some kind of evil spell than right?" She asked.

"Not necessarily the spell itself may not be evil, it usually depends on the person casting the spell. Whether their intent was good or evil." Tara explained.

From inside the kitchen Xander's voice came. "Very true Tara. With most magic it is always about intent." Walking into the room where they were seated. Xander continued, "And that is part of why I am here I need your help to fix what's wrong."

Joyce looked at Xander, and realized he was too young. "You're not Xander" she said slowly.

She was not sure what they could do if this thing attacked her and did not want to make it violent before they tried to get away.

Tara hearing Joyce's words realized it was the truth. But she wasn't sure of any spells she knew that could help right now. She was very surprised to hear what this other Xander said next.

"Yes and No, Joyce. Yes I am Alexander Harris. No I am not your Xander. As near as I have been able to determine I'm from a massively alternate timeline, In fact the difference are so big you can just call it a alternate universe."

"Dif, Differences? .Like your evil and iiis good?" Tara asked afraid of what the answer would be. The one thing that she did notice even through her fear was that this Xander did not feel frightening. Tara suddenly thought of something that might help. As she listened to Xander speak she opened up her sight.

Xander laughed,"Nope no gotie, Different as in where I come from I died saving Buffy and everyone else." Joyce gasped at that statement."Don't worry I got better." Xander said with the same smirk on his face that Joyce knew so well. "I was offered a job. I kind of became a guardian Angel."

Tara suddenly exclaimed, "Oh my GODDESS.!" Turning to look at her both Joyce and Xander saw she had squeezed her eyes firmly shut and was starting to hyperventilate. "Oh Goddess, oh my gosh."

Joyce moved over to her, "Tara what is it? What's wrong?" She asked sitting by the girl and putting her arm around her.

"Iiiit's hhhim." Tara said. "He iiis sssso pure." Tara wasn't sure how she could explain what she had just seen love and compassion purer than anything she had ever seen in her life. The light from Xander's aura had filled the room blinding her. She could easily believe now that he was an Angel. Nothing else could be that good. The light had been too much it was painful, her eyes felt like they were burning up.

Xander hearing Tara's pronouncement had an idea of what had happened moving over to the girl he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tara did you just try to use second sight on me?" He asked.

Tara nodded tears leaking out of her eyes. "Shh it will be alright in just a moment." Xander said as he placed his other hand over Tara's eyes and began healing them.

"What just happened?" Joyce asked as Tara quit crying and opened her eyes blinking at the light.

"It was too much, when I looked at him. The light was too much to see." Tara said in an awed tone of voice. "I can see aura's and I wanted to see if he was evil or not." Looking at Joyce and speaking with more conviction than Joyce had ever heard anyone speak with she in her life Tara continued. "He's not he is so full of love that it hurts to look at him."

Joyce looked at a now blushing Xander. Who looked back at her and said."Whitelighters are chosen for their compassion, love and courage. Once we become whitelighters it's sort of like the old bible stories of people not being able to look at God. If someone tries to see our aura it can blind them."

"Whitelighter? Is that what you are I thought you said you were a guardian angel?" Joyce said.

"Whitelighters are a kind of guardian angel. We help good witches, future whitelighters and champions." Xander replied not wanting Joyce to think he had lied to her.

"So when you died you became a whitelighter to protect Buffy?" Joyce guessed. Knowing Xander had seemed to love her daughter from the first time they met.

"Well to protect her and Willow and Faith," Xander said. "They were my girls and I will always try and protect my girls." He finished with a lopsided grin on his face. Joyce recognized that smile.

It was Xander reaching over to him she pulled him into a fierce hug. "Thank you for protecting my little girl." She whispered in his ear. Xander stiffened in her arms. "What is it? What's wrong?" She asked.

"I couldn't always protect her." Xander said in a pain filled voice. Returning Joyce's hug. "And I am so sorry for that Joyce."

Joyce felt shocked, she recalled the words from the hospital, "Your Dead"

"Buffy died didn't she?" She asked quietly.

Xander hugged her tightly tears falling. "I am so sorry I couldn't save her."

Joyce didn't know what to say or think. Here was an Angel crying in sorrow about not saving her daughter's life. But Buffy was alive. She didn't have any words that would come out. She opened her mouth, not knowing what to say, and heard herself saying, "I know. It's alright I still love you Xander." a warm feeling burst from her chest. She wasn't sure what had just happened but it was clean and pure and filled with love. "Shh it's alright I still Love you." She stroked Xander's back calming him down.

Xander stood back and smiled at her, "Thank you. I know you're not really my Joyce but thank you anyway."

Tara watching the tender moment between Joyce and Xander, didn't want to speak. But the silence was getting awkward. "Ssso wwwhat now? Why are you here?"

Xander grinned at her, "I've always said I am here for the beautiful woman and twinkies. But right now I am missing the twinkies." Joyce and Tara both giggled at that. Then Xander continued. "I need your help Tara. I would like you to come with me to help fix Faith and figure out a way to help everyone else."

"Come wiwwwith you? Where?" Tara asked in shock.

"Well where is hard to explain, but basically to Heaven, with a small H. Just a little piece of it." Xander said.

'He..Heaven?" Tara could not believe what she was hearing.

"Yes if you're willing to come that is we really need your help." Xander said.

"Oh ok." Tara said.

Xander smiled and held out his hand to Tara, when Joyce spoke up. "Xander Harris you had better not even think of leaving me here!" she said.

Xander turned to her and in a completely believable voice said, "Of course not I was just about to ask if you wanted to come with us." Grasping both women's hands he orbed them to the Elders domain.

Wow first part of this chapter was very hard to write. But once Joyce and Tara were alone it just flowed. I thought of cutting it off at Xander's appearance but thought that was too evil.

Also that seen with Xander and Joyce. No idea where it came from. Seriously no idea. Brought a tear to my eye writing it though.

Also I wanted Anya to stay but could not get her to. Really she wanted out and I could not stop her from leaving.

Now the next little bit you may want to skip as it is a teaser.

Margaret Walsh sat in her office. Waiting at her computer for the video conference to start. Her work on Adam was moving forward and she was please at the results her teams were achieving. The only problem on the horizon was the Summers girl she was distracting Riley too much.

The computer screen suddenly showed the conference was starting. Only instead of her normal contact there was another military officer on the screen. "Dr. Walsh, I am Colonel Maybourne. I know you were not expect me but I have some new orders for you. Several days ago someone in Sunnydale posted some interesting questions requesting information on Jaffa's, Ra and People appearing and disappearing in a flash of light."

Walsh was startled she was aware of the Stargate program because of the technology she had received for her own projects. But no one in Sunnydale should be asking those questions.

"What would you like me to do Colonel Maybourne?" She asked.

"Find out everything you can about Willow Rosenberg and Rupert Giles. We also want to know about any of their known associates. And find out what they know about the Goa'uld. This is a high priority request, do not let anything stop you from fulfilling it. I will expect daily updates." With that the screen closed.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Also When both Xanders are present Xander will be Xander and XanderW will be the Whitelighter

Chapter 8 Promises Made

"Yup. Now we just need to figure out how to use that for ourselves and destroy the plans they have for all of you." XanderW continued, "Because you, you incredibly good looking man while being a Nexus means you have power. Power which in some cases is more than most witches, it does have a personal downside."

"Of course it does, "Xander replied. "So hit me, how is this going to screw me over?"

"Wrong downside older looking me. You know if you were just a bit smaller or younger I could call you mini-me." XanderW said.

'Hey, if anyone is the mini-me here it's you!" Xander exclaimed.

Faith looked at the two of them, and was having a very hard time keeping everything straight in her head. Weird dreams aside being in the same room with two Boytoys was just ..weird couldn't even describe it. She piped up, "Yo boytoys you're both pretty. But me I'm smok'n hot so can we stick to the topic."

Both Xanders at the same time replied with "HEY"

XanderW smirked and said, "Back to the subject then. See Nexus equals power. Which other people can use. Sort of like,.. think the ocean or a mighty river. Full of power, it can really affect others. But rivers don't get up and take a walk around town."

"So you're saying Boytoy is like a battery?" Faith smile a sultry smile."He can power up other people?"

"No because of the kind of Nexus he is. Chaos is all about change. Good, bad doesn't matter what matters is change. People come into his influence they are going to change. Might be for the better might be for the worse. Depends on too many factors. And what magic does around Chaos" XanderW shuddered, "Don't ever try to do spells! Unless you really really really have to."

"Wait stop, you mean I change people against their will?" Xander asked, a hint of panic in his voice. Then it registered the other part about magic. " And Hey, me and magic, I know don't mix. Two words, 'Love Spell'" Xander said.

Xander laughed at that. "Yeah those two words would work. But about the people. Don't worry you never take away their free will." XanderW stated. "People have the ability to chose. But you open up possibilities for them that they may never have known about. And from what Whistler said you blow open the possibilities that they do not want their victims thinking about."

"If that's all I'm doing, how is that a bad thing." Xander asked.

"Well it's not all you do. You're also going to affect situations, and places. Probability will shift around you. You might want to be careful if you go to Vegas. You could win at something and then have a spontaneous flood of shrimp hit the hotel. Weird things good, bad and strange will happen to you."

"You mean life around Boytoy will never be dull than?" Faith commented..

"So you're saying for me, nothing much is going to change?" Xander asked with a grin.

"Yup," XanderW grinned back. "Now where this can help us now is a bit of a left turn. Normally breaking spells put on people is hard, but doable. But Faith was put under a compulsion or geas more or less of her own free will. Less that more definitely. See when you agree to a magical contract getting out of it can kill you. But with you here," He pointed at Xander. "We can try to harness that Chaos and use it to help a witch break the spell."

'Where are we getting a witch?" Faith asked.

"Yeah that's a slight problem. See I found the witch but when I went to try to get her she was.. well…. busy with someone. And I'm not sure how we approach her now. Willow is probably sticking to her like glue."

"Wait, that's what Boytoy meant in the dream, Willow's not driving stick anymore." Faith smirked. "And you interrupted her and this witch getting in on? Yeah I can see her being wicked pissed at you for that."

"Mrs. Summers" Xander said. Faith and XanderW looked at him questioningly. "We get her to help get in touch with Tara."

"Boytoy you want Mrs. S to touch this Tara? I think Willow might get jealous." Faith said. "Plus I don't think Mrs. S swings that way." Faith's highly suggestive comment caused both Xanders to pause as they imagined Joyce and Tara together. They're fantasies were interrupted by Faith's laughter.

"Bad Faith," XanderW said.

"Yeah really, really, bad Faith." Xander said with a smile. They both knew Faith was kidding around, and were happy to see her smiling. "Seriously though I think she is our best hope to get to Tara. And the fact that she can't kill one of us on site is of the good."

XanderW agreed, "Sounds like we have a plan. Now we really will just need to wait for a chance to reach her when she is alone."

"Not to ask a dumb question here." Xander said.

"Don't think that could have ever stopped you before." XanderW smirked.

"Yeah you walked right into that one Boytoy." Faith grinned.

"Yeah, yeah laugh it up. But no how will we know when she's alone?" Xander asked.

"Come on I'll show you." XanderW getting up to lead the two to the scrying pool.

Faith stopped him, 'Hey you got any other clothes I can wear? Because not really into the backless hospital gown look. I mean sure I make this look hot but come on."

XanderW nodded as he said, "Sure but remind me before we leave here to get you real clothes because these ones might not stay in place back on Earth." In his hands he was holding a set of Leather pants, Tank top, and it looked like a bra and panties.

Both men turned around as Faith got changed. Once she was dressed they headed toward the scrying pool.

"Nice birdbath Wings, but how does this help? Faith said.

"Wings? Really? I think I prefer Boytoy." XanderW said imitating Giles.

"Nah you ain't my boytoy." She said. Jerking her thumb at Xander she continued, "He is."

Xander flushed. "Ah yeah about that…"

XanderW quickly grabbed his arm and turned to Faith, "Can you give me and your boytoy here a moment?" He smirked.

Faith looked uncomfortable at the request and a little upset at being cut out of whatever would be said. Her sullen, "Sure, whatever it's 5 x 5." caused Xander to put a hand on her shoulder.

"Whatever you're going to say, say it in front of Faith." Xander stated looking at the whitelighter.

Looking at them both XanderW knew that this would embarrass Xander but it would bolster Faith's well faith in Xander. "Faith, Xander was about to explain how he thinks he has a girlfriend right now.

"What do you me I think I have a girlfriend. Anya is very real. My bed can testify to that!" Xander said.

"Not saying she's not real, I'm saying you think she's your girlfriend. Truth is a bit more twisted." XanderW said.

"What she's like Matahari just there to pump boytoy?" Faith asked. The news that Xander was taken felt like someone had punched her in the chest. She wasn't sure why. If she thought about it she would say she was joking when she referred to him as her 'BoyToy'.

"Yeah pretty much." XanderW said. "Whistler said he and the powers set you and Anya up. They cut a deal with D'Hoffryn. She helps out keeping you busy and in return once they are done with their plan. She's a vengeance demon again."

Xander's face went pale white. He felt like he had just been gutted. Yeah Anya could be crude and abrasive and demanding. But what they had was he thought was real. To find out that he was being played, that someone, no not someone the fucking Powers, that they would play with his emotions like that. It fueled the fire of rage he had felt start when he heard what was done to his Girls. "Those bastards. Those fucking BASTARDS." He screamed. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?" He demanded.

XanderW looked ashamed, "Honestly I'm sorry it just slipped my mind. With everything else I forgot. It didn't ever pass as a thought until I saw you about to say something to Faith. Than I remembered and knew you needed to know."

Faith could see how upset Xander was part of her wanted to grab a hold of him. But the voice in her head kept reminding her, 'We don't do that shit. Only leads to us getting hurt.'

Xander looked at Faith and XanderW, "Look I need some, Hell I don't know what I need but can you guys give me some space?"

XanderW sadly smiled, "It'll be alright. Why don't you head back to the other room while me and Faith try to spy on Joyce." Xander nodded and left the room going back to where they had come from.

'Yo, that's harsh Wings. Boytoy's going to be alright though, Right? Faith said.

"He's me. He'll eventually get over it. How long though, well... that depends." Xander replied.

"Depends? On what?" Faith didn't think she would like the answer.

"Depends on a lot of things. But one of the big ones may be you." Xander's normal expression could be called a perpetual grin. The Xander Faith remembered was always upbeat and positive. The look she was getting right now. Was more serious than any she had ever seen on Xander's face. Although Buffy would have recognized it, it was the same look that Xander gave her when he promised to kill her if Willow died. Complete conviction and the knowledge that he was speaking the truth.

"Me no way, What could I do?" Faith said.

"Simple be his friend just be with him. Let him know you care. That's all and that would be more than enough to help him." Xander said.

Faith was going to make a comment on how he wanted her to screw Boytoy, but she didn't. That small voice inside her stopped her. She knew that wasn't what he meant and somehow making it into a crude comment would ….. Make her smaller. And for some reason right now she felt she could be better than that.

Xander smiled at her. He thought maybe the push would help. Only time would tell. He grinned, "Now want to see something really cool?"

Faith grinned back, "Sure Wings impress me."

Xander took her over to the pool. "So this is the scrying pool. It can see anything on Earth. And a few things in some of the Hells or Heavens." He said.

Looking at the large pool of water Faith asked, "So this is what you're going to use to find Mrs. S? Does it get cable too?"

Xander snorted, "Of course it can get cable. But it only shows what is happening right now, no pause function on it. And no sound."

"What" an indignant Faith cried out. "Sorry Wings that just lost you major points."

"You just can't appreciate it's coolness." He said with a huff. Turning towards the pool, he smiled and said, "Show me Joyce Summers"

The pool cleared up and showed a picture of Joyce and Tara driving. "Who's the blonde?" Faith asked.

"That's Tara I think, she's the witch we need to get to help us out."

"Willow's hitting that? Nice, least she's got good taste." Faith says.

Tara and Joyce were talking. But without sound they had no idea what was being discussed. As they watched Joyce pulled into the driveway of the the Summers house. Xander said, "I think this may be my best shot. I'm going to go try to get them on our side." Xander then Orbed out.

Faith stumbled back seeing Xander disappear in a shower of light. "What the FUCK!" She exclaimed. "Holy shit what was that." She also noticed that she felt different with him gone. Not as calm. She didn't think she was going to lose it. But she could tell the difference.

Not sure what she should do right now she sat on the floor to think. She was shocked again when a chair appeared next to her. "What the Fuck?" she said poking the chair. It was solid and look comfortable. Picking herself of the floor she gingerly sat down in it. "Guess this is some crazy Heaven shit right?" She addressed the air. Not getting an answer, she leaned back into the chair and just thought.

Faith never would describe herself as a deep thinker. Want, take, have that was her. But she knew something was happening. Like when she felt something when she heard Xander was taken. Why did that upset her. She thought about him. In her mind she saw that first night in the hotel room, after they were done. He was lying there looking at her. And those eyes. They scarred her. No one had ever looked at her like that after sex. The look in his eyes, was different and after hearing the F-ing Angel. She thought maybe it could be the look of someone who loved her. In her mind she could hear her mother's voice saying that no one would ever want a dirty little whore like her. But then another voice cut through that sound. It was quiet and said, 'An honest to God Angel said Boytoy loved you.'

She heard the other Xander's voice when he told her. "He loves you. Just accept it. You don't have to do anything to earn it." Tears started falling down her face. She didn't know why but they just kept coming. She couldn't see through the tears and silent sobs wracked her body. All the things she had done, killing the professor for the mayor hurting Xander and Buffy and everyone else. The pain just kept coming.

Then something changed. She felt him wrap his arms around her should. Xander's voice saying. "Faith it's alright I'm here. Let me help." She cried even harder. He really did care. He came for her. He really did love her. She held him tight at the tears flowed and he just stoked her back. If she could have seen the metaphysical collar she was wearing she would have seen it cracking and fraying. It was still there but it was only connected by the smallest of margins.

As Xander held and comforted Faith, the room filled with light from the returning whitelighter. With him were Tara and Joyce. Faith looked embarrassed. She knew she looked like shit right now, all that crying and her nose was running. "Shit!"she said in a small voice.

Joyce looking at the upset, and recently crying girl, as Faith tried to wipe the the tears and snot from her face. Joyce went over to her. "Faith are you alright?" The girl who thought she was always in control, looked into the older woman's eyes. And heard real concern in her voice. Faith lost it again. She started sobbing. No longer were they the silent cries she had done before. These cries were loud and filled with pain.

While Faith was crying XanderW quietly said to Tara, "I need you to trust me and focus only on Faith. Don't look at anything else just her then use your sight on her. But only after everything else fades away."

Tara gulped, she didn't want to do this. The last time had hurt so much. But it had been so beautiful too. XanderW whispered, " I Promise it will be alright just focus on Faith. I need you to look for the spells on her." Tara closed her eyes and nodded her head. She opened her eyes and focus on the girl in front of her. Slowly everything around her seemed to fade away. She could still sort of see Xander and Mrs. Summers hold Faith. But gradually they faded out until the only thing she saw was Faith. Then she opened her sight.

Xander pulled Faith into an embrace once again. Joyce held her from the other side. Both of them were saying over and over"It will be alright."

Faith sobbed, "How will it be alright. I killed him. I stuck a knife through his guts and was happy to do it. Because the Boss told me too." Faith cried until there was nothing left. Just dry heaving sobs. She felt so tired. Her eyes were fighting to stay open.

Xander picked Faith up in his arms. He started carrying her back to the other room, where the bed was. As he laid her down she seemed to be sleeping. He pulled the blanket over her and turned to leave. Her hand grabbed his arm. A soft voice said, "Stay, please stay."

Xander lay down beside her, lay down beside her. And held her as she fell asleep. He joined her in sleep short time later.

Joyce watched as Xander carried Faith out of the room. She had never seen the girl act so vulnerable. If someone had told her yesterday that Faith would ever break down in her arms she would have thought they were crazy. But this Faith seemed so different from the brash, loud young woman she had met almost a year ago.

Turning to Xander, she said, "What happened to her?"

XanderW sighed, "She's remembering everything she did. All the things she was made to do by Wilkins and the Powers."

"It's like Mr. Giles said." Tara added. " She thought she wanted to do all those things. Now she knows she was forced to do them." Tara added softly, " They raped her mind, body, and soul didn't they?"

XanderW replied, "Yes they did and that's one of the reasons they are all going to die." His voice was quiet but filled with conviction. It wasn't a threat it was a promise. Turning to Tara, XanderW asked, "When you looked at her what did you see?"

Tara felt tears in her own eyes as she started recounting her vision. "Her soul is so battered and bruised. She has been so hurt and not just by the powers. All her life people have hurt her. But she is strong. She never let it keep her down. She always fought. She is afraid, afraid to let anyone in because then they could hurt her. But even though she's afraid she's letting Xander in. I could see her reaching out to him."

Joyce felt her own eyes fill with tears she thought dear god in Heaven how could someone have done that to a little girl. Xander nodded his head he knew how strong Faith was. Like he kept saying, didn't matter the dimension Faith was his Faith and he and Xander were the same.

"What about the spell, could you see that?"

Tara spoke, "Yes but it's almost gone while Faith was crying it was unravelling, cracking and falling apart. Soon I don't think that there will be anything left of it." Turning to face Xander directly she asked, "How could that happen? I've never read or seen or heard of a spell coming upart like that."

XanderW actually laughed at Tara's news. Both Joyce and Tara looked at him like he had just laughed at a funeral. He sobered up, "I'll explain and trust me it is very good news. But first how about we get comfortable." Turning he started leading them out of the room they were in. He really didn't need to take them anywhere else but, he wanted to check on Xander and Faith.

Passing the room that he was starting to think of as Faiths. They looked inside and saw Faith asleep in Xander's arms. His eyes closed and him sleeping beside her. Joyce smiled and a small part of her was saddened. Because she was suddenly sure that Buffy would never realize what she had let slip through her fingers. But she was happy for Faith, because Xander would be worthy of her love. Tara was just amazed at what she saw. A man who was kind and caring and every good thing she could think of but had never seen in her own family. She smiled, "He's a sweetie." she murmured.

All three of them had smiles on their faces as they walked away. XanderW lead them into another room. This room had a large round table that was open in the center a large crystalline bolder sat in the opening. The table was surrounded by high backed ornate chairs in the center of the room. "My ladies welcome to the round table."

"What" Joyce exclaimed in surprise.

"Really?" Tara asked in wonderment.

Xander paused, "Maybe." He said, "Maybe not." with a grin. "But it will serve for us to sit and talk."

Sitting down Tara said, "You said you'd explain what happened to the spell on Faith." She looked at him expectantly.

XanderW smiled at her, "This may take some time so please be patient. First when I rescued Faith from the Hospital I was visited by someone named Whistler." Both women drew audible breaths at the name. "I see you know him then. And you may think he is one of the good guys but he's not. He's a demon. And he has been screwing around and manipulating all of your lives for a long time." Looking at Tara he added, "Well not yours Tara as far as I know. At least not yet."

"He explained a lot of what he and the Powers have done to everyone in Sunnydale to make sure that their grand plan keeps going. He put spells and suggestions on everyone to make sure they didn't listen too,would actively ignore, or just forgot Xander. And I know you're thinking, why?"

Over the next twenty minutes Xander explained everything. The Nexus of Chaos and what it means. How the powers screwed over Buffy, Willow, Giles and Faith. Then he got to the hard parts.

"Because the other me is a Nexus of Chaos. The spell on Faith was able to be broken. He affects everything, But because of who he is a good decent kind loving human being. His natural tendencies will encourage others to be free. And he fights for them to be able to chose for themselves. That is what started freeing Faith from the spell. But she had to take the last steps herself and chose to finish breaking it. That's why I was laughing earlier she chose. She chose him."

"So Xander is powerful enough to break spells like that? Than why can't he help the others?" Joyce asked.

"Because the way it was set up. If he goes and helps them they will remember that while he's there. As soon as he's gone they start forgetting. And some part of them doesn't want to remember. If they did want to be free of the spell deep in their souls being around him could help break them free. But without that key piece it won't work."

"How do you know all of this?" Tara asked. "You just showed up this morning."

"Well part of it is who I am, I see through problems and lies. I can see through what has been done. Another part is just experience. I've seen a lot of evil. And while they always think they are so original in what they do. In the end they are using the same playbook. It's all about lies and deception mixed in with fear and power."

Seeing the serious looks on both women's faces, Xander said, "But over all remember,'He puffed up his chest, "I'm an Angel. I've got mad skillz, yo." Joyce and Tara both laughed. They felt refreshed maybe it was because of where they were. But right now they could feel so much hope.

Xander turned serious again, "Joyce I am really sorry but this next part you're not going to like."

Joyce nodded, "It's alright Xander just tell me what they did to me."

Xander shook his head in admiration of such a brave woman. "Hank Summers never cheated on you. They adjusted you, him and his secretary so that all three of you knew that he had cheated and so that you would divorce him. They wanted Buffy in Sunnydale and Hank was blocking their plans. So they removed the problem."

Joyce froze, Her mind going to the Day. The day her marriage had been destroyed. She had walked in on Hank and his secretary in their bed. She remembered the pain she felt at the betrayal. She wanted to deny what Xander had just said. But she knew how Buffy and her friends had acted. Was it true? Had she been robbed of her marriage and her family torn apart because of these Powers manipulation? An eternity passed in her mind, she knew it was true.

"Damn them! Damn them all to Hell!" She said her voice quivering with repressed rage.

In an equally calm voice she said to Xander, "How can we use this to help us." She knew Xander would have never told her this without a very good reason.

"If we can find a way to break the memories they gave you, to give you back your true memories. Than we should be able to destroy what they have done to Buffy, Willow and Giles."

Tara and Joyce nodded. "What do we need to do?"

"Tara you and I are going to be looking into every spell we can find. I really wish you had the Warren Book of Shadows. It would be a huge help for this. But without we need to search everywhere we can to find spells that could help."

Tara, gulped,"Book of Shadows? Do you mean my families Grimoire?"

Xander looked at her in surprise, "Yes it would be bound to your family's bloodline. Do you mean you have it or know where it is?" If she had the book he knew it would be a huge help to them.

"It's in my dorm room." Tara said.

"Yes" yelled Xander. Standing up he took Tara's hand and said, "Let's go get it than." Grabbing her hand "Where is your dorm room?"

Tara blushed, and hit him on his shoulder, "Like you don't know!"

Xander paused, rubbing his shoulder as his mind tried to think what she meant. He recalled when he had first gone to try and get her. He smiled at the memory and Tara hit his shoulder again, she knew what he was thinking. "Hey easy on the arms there. And let me just say I am very, very sorry for barging in on you and Willow like that. It was completely my fault for not checking you weren't ah occupied before I tried to contact you."

Joyce, hearing this was slightly puzzled until she remembered all the things she had seen and learned today, Giles blushing stammer when Willow talked about the attack. The revelation that Willow and Tara were a couple. "Alexander Harris! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Xander backed away, "It really was an accident. I swear to you both I would never try to do something like that on purpose. And I also swear you have nothing to ever be ashamed of. In fact it does my heart good to know you are as beautiful on the outside as on the inside."He said grinning at Tara.

Tara's blush went nuclear at that point. It was a surprise she did not pass out from all the blood in her body rushing to her face. Both Joyce and Tara in tandem cried out "Xander" as the slapped opposing shoulders. Xander just laughed and reached out to hug them both.

Tara was not used to being hugged by a man. But with Xander it felt like a loving brother was hugging her. Something she had never experienced from her own from her own brother. She smiled. "Come on let's go get the book."


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Special disclaimer I do not own the image or characterization of Lee Emory either.

Thank You to MasterRahl for recommending this story.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 9 Or are you just happy to see me?

"Come on let's go get the book." Xander said. He took Tara's hand in his, and started to move away from Joyce. It was not necessary to have space between them when orbing. But it was polite. Looking at Joyce he said, " We'll be right back." He grinned and orbed out with Tara.

Joyce had thought about asking to go with them. But Xander left before she could ask. Sitting alone, Joyce's thoughts turned to Xander's last revelation. Her rage built up inside of her. She could feel it like a presence trying to weigh her down. Part of her recognized that dwelling on this was not healthy. If nothing else the psychology books she had read to try to deal with Buffy were helping her now.

Standing up, Joyce decided that rather than sit here brooding about the injustice of the situation, she would much rather just explore a bit. After all she was in Heaven. And how often do you get to explore Heaven when you are not dead. With her head held high Joyce exited the room containing the 'Round Table' and started walking down the corridor.

Xander and Tara materialized in Tara's door room. Tara stumbled, her balance thrown off by orbing. "Whoa!" She exclaimed.

Xander grinned at her, "Sorry about that you get used to it eventually."

"Why didn't I notice this the first time?" Tara asked.

Xander shrugged, "Really don't know. Could be because you were too excited to notice. Could be just because. Why don't you grab your Book, and we can get back upstairs?"

Tara goes over to her desk. Picking up the book she notices that the answering machine light is blinking. "Someone tried to call me." Realizing how long she and Joyce had been gone from the Magic Box, she thought it was probably Willow who had called her. Pushing play Xander and Tara listened to the message.

"Tara, it's Willow. Where are you? No one is answering at Buffy's house. And Buffy left to go make sure her Mom was alright. Call me please." There were about twenty more messages from Willow on the machine.

Tara looked at Xander, "Joyce and I have been gone awhile. We need to talk to them before they go crazy with worry."

"Sounds like Buffy may already be doing that." Xander snarked. "Do you know how long it took me to get my Buffy to stop rushing in? Just getting her to pause and try and think of a plan, was a feat worthy of Hercules."

"She does seem to get really excited,... sometimes." Tara agreed. Tara being who she is, would almost never think badly of others.

Tara picked up the phone and called the Magic Shop. The phone just kept ringing. No one at the Magic Box was answering the call. After two minutes of continuous ringing with no answer Tara was worried. "Xander no one is answering the phone. It just keeps ringing. Can we please go over there and see them. I'm worried that something is wrong."

Xander sighed, "You shouldn't worry. I can promise you this. Something is wrong." Tara gasped. "This screams 'It's a trap' more than Admiral Ackbar."

Tara looked very worried at Xander's pronouncement. "What are we going to do."

"It would be easiest if we just ignored this. But I don't think either of us can just leave the others in danger. So that means we need to spring the trap." Xander said.

Tara nodded her head. And asked, "What do we do?" Xander quickly outlined a plan.

Orbing to the alley closest to the Magic Shop. Xander said to Tara, wait here for two minutes. Then follow me in. Using his glamor ability Xander altered his appearance. Xander's form became older. He looked like a man in his late fifties. His hair turned white, with a short high and tight haircut. His skin looked weather beaten. He now looked Lee Emery, but without the hat. Even the appearance of his clothes had changed. They now looked like a casual black polo shirt. His blue jeans, were faded but not to worn. Work boots completed the outfit.

He walked out of the alley and headed into the Magic Shop. Opening the door, which still showed the damage from the Tothic demon attack. Xander entered the shop. Giles and Willow looked at him as he entered. Willow stopped her nervous pacing. Giles stood up. "I'm terribly sorry but we're not really open right now."

"Well if you're not open the why was the door open? With the sign saying your open? " Xander bit out the sentences.

"Yes I am terribly sorry about that. It was an error on my part." Giles said in his stiff upper lip fashion.

"You're sorry?" Xander moved in crowding Giles personal space. "I had to make a special trip here today! My granddaughter said I had to come here. That this was the only shop in Sunnydale that had what she needed. And now you're telling me you're sorry?" The last was said right in Giles's face. Xander was a dead on impersonation of Lee's voice when he would dress someone down.

"Yes well I'm afraid you will have to come back another time. Right now we are unable to assist you." Giles backed off from Xander as he spoke.

"I DON'T THINK SO," Xander shouted out. "I AM HERE! AND YOU WILL SERVE ME! I WILL NOT LEAVE UNTIL I HAVE WHAT I CAME FOR!"

Willow couldn't believe this cantankerous old man was really getting in Giles's face.

Giles was pissed, "Now look here old man. You will leave and never return or I'll thrash you and throw you out." Ripper replied.

"GIVE IT YOU BEST TRY PUNK. I'VE BEATEN BETTER MEN THAN YOU USING ONLY MY LEFT NUT." Xander challenged him.

Giles balled up his fist. Willow looked startled and worried. Just then the door to the Magic Shop opened and Tara came in. "Tara" Willow cried out rushing over to her girlfriend. Hugging her, she babled. "Where were you, we tried calling Buffy's house but no one answered and I tried calling your room but I just left like twenty messages and Buffy was so worried she left to go over to her house and check to see if everything was alright and she hasn't called us yet but she said she would and now I'm worried about her too and where is Mrs. Summers she should be with you.."

Willow would have kept going but Tara stopped her by kissing her. Willow melted into Tara's kiss. Her long winded babel forgotten. Giles looked over his anger momentarily forgotten. He smiled at Tara, "Tara where were you? And where is Joyce?"

Before Tara could answer Xander broke in. "NOW WAIT ONE MOMENT YOU HAVE NOT FINISHED HELPING ME!"

Gilles with great effort pulled in his Ripper side. Turning to the old man he said, "I will help you but only after I am finished talking to this young lady. If you do not want to wait I suggest you leave! The door is right over there." Giles pointed to the front door.

"OUTSTANDING!" Xander exclaimed. "I'll wait then" he finished in a more normal tone of voice.

Giles shook his head at these damn Americans. Willow focused on Tara. And Tara had to fight her laughter as Xander's performance. "Willow it's alright. Joce and I are fine."

"Where is Joyce?" Giles reiterated.

"She's fine. Right now she's with a friend. They are trying to help us with the spell that was cast on her." Tara truthfully stated.

"What friend?" Willow asked. "Do I know them? They can't be from the wicca group because only you and I were real witches there. Who is this friend?"

Right then Whistler shimmers into view. "Yeah blondie I think you need to tell the redhead were the slayer's mom is."

Giles moves towards Whistler, "Who the bloody hell are you?"

"Names Whistler the slayer should have told you about me." Whistler replied. Xander stood to the side. Forgotten by Willow and Giles. And since he was cloaking his aura unnoticed by Whistler. Whistler continued speaking, "I work for the Powers that Be."

Turning to Tara, "So where is the slayer's mom?" Right then the door opened again and Buffy entered the Magic Shop. She came in just in time to hear Whistler's question to Tara.

"Tara," Buffy cried out. "You're here. Where is my Mom?" She said looking around.

Tara turned to Buffy, "She's safe." She said. "We found someone to help remove the spell on her. She's with them right now."

"Oh, So did you come to get us to take us to her?" Buffy asked.

"No right now you need to stay away. Otherwise it would be hard to remove the spell." Tara adlibbed. She didn't think Xander wanted everyone to come with them until they had the counter spell ready.

"Their ain't no spells on the slayer's Mom that shouldn't be there. So you better tell me where she is blonde if you know what's good for you." Whistler said.

"Hey you can't threaten Tara!" Willow said.

Whistler looked at her. "I can do whatever I need to do, too make sure everything goes like it should. So Blonde what's it going to be? The easy way? Or the hard way?"

Buffy was feeling very confused. A part of her was wigging out. It felt like something really bad was here. But the only ones here were Giles, Willow, Whistler, Tara and some old guy. She could feel Giles,Willow and Tara. She recognized how they felt their magiky feeling. She tried to pinpoint the bad vibe she was getting.

Xander moved up. It was time to turn up the heat. Moving in front of Whistler he yelled at him putting his hand on Whistler's chest. "WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? YOU DON'T GO AROUND THREATENING YOUNG WOMAN WHILE I AM AROUND."

Whistler looked down at the hand on his chest. Then up at the human it was attached to. He looked familiar. But Whistler didn't care. He was pissed. These damn humans kept going off script. And even with the Harris Kid not around they were making his life difficult. Whistler swept back his arm and backhand the old man to the side. "Stay out of this old man."

Xander flew to the side and hit one of the store shelves. Falling to the floor blood leaking from a split lip.

"Hey" Willow cried out. Why would a good guy have done that?

Buffy seeing Whistler attack a Human rushed towards Whistler. Her fist raised she punched him in the head. Whistler was rocked back. He hadn't counted on the slayer hitting him. Buffy kept coming at him. Kicking and punching him. While he felt the blows they were not causing serious damage. But they were making him even more angry.

Whistler punched the slayer back into the wall by the table. "Enough Slayer!" He yelled. "You work for the Powers. And you will not interfere with me or them. If I have to Kill the blonde witch to find out what I need to know. You will do nothing!"

Buffy pulled herself out of the wall. She left a broken imprint of her body in the drywall. "You're not the real Whistler. Yeah, he works for the Powers. But the Powers don't go around harming innocents." She said. Buffy ran towards Whistler again. Intent on taking him down.

Whistler punched her back again. Then he snorted at the slayer laying on the floor. "Stupid bitch. The Powers don't give a damn about the little people. All we care about is the Balance." He continued, "Now stay down or I will really hurt you. I have business with the Witch."

Willow having heard Whistler's threats to hurt Tara, the threats made her very angry. "You stay away from Tara!" She growled at Whistler. Willows eyes and hair were bleeding to black. She gathered power into her hands and threw Whistler through the window of the Magic Shop and into the street.

Whistler picked himself off the street outside. Enough was enough. These fucking humans did not get to do this to him. He shifted into his demonic form. He grew six inches in height. His Skin was a deep purple with yellow stripes. His ears were pointed and his eyes were pure black. His eyes had no white in them only black pools stared out at the slayer's group. His suit disappeared. Leaving him in a pair of loose fitting sweat pants. Muscles played over his bare chest which showed the same base purple skin tone with yellow stripes. It was like a demonic tiger pattern.

Pointing a taloned hand at them he said as he moved back in. "You know what the best part about beating you all half to death is? When I am done with you, you won't even remember what I did! Only thing you'll know is a demon killed the blonde witch! And you're going to believe every word I tell you, when I tell you which demon killed her." Whistler laughed a harsh guttural laugh.

Whistler formed a blue fire ball in one hand and threw it at Tara. Willow screamed and flung her own magic at the blast. The two attacks met and exploded without injuring anyone else.

Whistler turned towards Willow, "Big mistake Witch." He moved towards her. He knew most of her magic wouldn't even touch him. He was going to enjoy beating her to a bloody pulp.

Buffy having picked herself up from the ground. Ran at the demon. She had to protect Willow and Tara. Giles had pulled in his personal magic and threw the fireball he had created at Whistler. The fireball hit whistler on the chest and exploded. Whistler kept moving forward. Unscathed by the attack.

Buffy reached him and punched at him. Whistler caught the petite slayers fist in his own and laughed as he started squeezing her fist. Buffy cried out as she felt the bones in her hand breaking. She grabbed Whistler's hand with her free hand. Trying to pull his hand off to free herself.

Whistler grabbed the other hand as well. And started squeezing. He laughed, "I'm going to break most of the bones in your body slayer. Just because I can!"

Willow grasped the shards of broken glass on the ground outside of the magic shop. Picking them up with her magic. The air was filled with glass shards. Willow threw them at whistler's back.

Tara using her own telekinesis grabbed broken shards of wood from where Xander had been thrown into the shelves. She didn't understand why he wasn't helping them fight. But he was still laying on the ground. She hoped he wasn't seriously injured.

Both the shards of glass and wood hit Whistler. The glass shattered on Whistlers back. Cutting into his back and causing small scratches. The wooden spears hit him just under his upraised right arm. These had better penetration than the glass.

Whistler called out in pain. Buffy used the opportunity to kick up with both feet hitting Whistler in the chest. The combination of attacks caused Whistler to drop Buffy. Buffy landed on the ground, her back slamming into the floor.

Giles having seen his magic had no effect grabbed a sword from one of the cases. He ran towards Whistler. Swinging the sword at him. Whistler blocked the sword blow with one arm. The sword barely cut into Whistler's skin. Whistler grabbed the sword with his other hand and wrenched it from Giles's hand.

"While you were convenient to keep the slayer in line. You didn't have a destiny. Now your destiny is to Die. Goodbye Watcher!" With that Whistler returned Giles's sword. Punching it through his stomach and out his back. Giles looked down in shock. The blade running through him, dark blood spilling out of his wound.

Whistler laughed and threw Giles to the ground. The impact caused the sword to tear his stomach and back open even further. Buffy, Willow and Tara looked on in shock. They could not believe what was happening. Whistler using his left arm knocked the shards of wood out of his side.

"Time to finish this!" He said.

Xander, who had been watching the fight from the ground felt rage coursing through him. He knew the rules as a whitelighter. He was not allowed to fight. He was only allowed to guide and to heal. His heart almost broke when he saw Buffy's hands crushed by Whistler. But that was nothing compared to what he felt when the Father of his heart was run through by the demon.

All around Xander the others reeled in shock. Buffy was trying to get up without the use of her crushed hands. Willow who just moments before had been deep in the grip of her magic. Her eyes and hair going black. Right now she could not maintain the focus to grasp her magic. The color in her eyes and hair was returning to normal as the power bled off of her. Tara just stared at Giles unable to believe what was happening.

Xander stood up. His rage was all encompassing. When Whistler said 'Time to finish this'. Xander replied, You're right Demon! It ends now!" Blue lightning shot out of Xander's hands. It struck Whistler. Forcing him to the ground. Xander had resumed his normal appearance. Except he was now wearing a white robe with a golden inlay on the front of it. Moving towards the demon. He continued sending electricity into Whistler. Whistler screamed as his flesh blackened. The smell of burning flesh filled the room as the electrical current burned away at Whistler's flesh.

Xander his eyes cold pools of fury, just poured in more power. Whistlers screams became more intense as bone started to show through his burnt flesh. He knew he had to escape. Whistler grasped at his powers. He tried to picture a location to shimmer away. But the pain cut into him. He was dying and he knew it. Finally Whistler pulled every ounce of willpower he had. He didn't care where he ended up as long as it wasn't here. He shimmered away.

As Whistler disappeared. Xander's attack struck the floor where he had been. Xander screamed in frustration. Tara yelled out, "Mr. Giles" and rushed towards the dying man.

Willow hurried to Giles as well. Buffy had reached him already. She was trying to pick him up with her broken hands. Xander hearing Tara's cry was brought back to the present. He knew he could try to follow Whistler, or save Giles's life. It was an easy choice.

Moving towards Giles bleeding body. He knelt down. Buffy tried to use her arms to pull Giles away from him with the cry of "Demon."

Xander shook his head. Reaching towards Giles. He said. "I'm not a demon Buffy. But I can save Giles. Let me have him."

Because Xander was no longer cloaking his aura. The natural effect whitelighters had on slayers, made Buffy feel peace. The slayer spirit was calm. It knew she could trust this man. With tears in her eyes, She moved Giles's body towards Xander. "Please." was all she said.

All the love she had for her watcher was in that one word. The man who with all his faults had been more of a Father to her since her arrival in Sunnydale, then Hank Summers had been since the divorce.

Xander put his hands on Giles stomach. "Tara,' he called out. "Pull the sword from Giles's stomach while I heal him" Xander's hands were so close to the sword that as Tara pulled out the blade it sliced into his hands. Xander didn't care. He was going to save Giles.

Before everyone's eyes Giles's wounds closed. Giles started breathing normally and as Buffy's tears fell on his face. He said, as his hand was reaching up to stroke her cheek. "Buffy, my dear sweet girl. It's alright." With those words Giles passed out.

Buffy seeing her Watcher close his eyes and pass out cried out, "No Giles." She tried to grab him but her hands were pulped. With the strength Whistler had possessed. He had crushed almost every bone in her hands. She scream in pain as her hands hit Giles's body.

Xander quickly grabbed Buffy's wrists. "It's ok Buffy. Giles is alive. He's just sleeping now." Buffy barely heard him. Xander just kept repeating himself until she finally heard him and understood what he was saying.

Willow was crying and Tara was holding her tightly. She couldn't understand what was happening. But somehow Xander was here and he was fixing everything. The part of her that was tied to a yellow crayon new everything would be alright. Because Xander was here.

Tara had tears in her eyes as well. The fear she had felt facing the demon. The terror when it ran Mr. Giles through. All of the emotions and adrenaline were leaking away. She felt like she was floating.

Xander still holding Buffy's wrists said. "This may hurt for just a moment as I hold your hands. But I promise you it will get better." He moved his hands over Buffies and she drew in a sharp breath. As she hissed in pain he smiled at her. With tenderness and love in his heart he healed her hands.

"How did you do that?" Buffy asked in an awed tone of voice. She knew this was Xander but Xander was never this powerful.

Xander smiled at her. Looking at everyone gathered around he said, "We need to get out of here. I don't know if Whistler survived. But even if he didn't this place isn't safe right now." Looking at Tara and Willow he motioned them to come closer. "This may feel odd. But don't worry it will be alright." Once they were close he grabbed Tara's hand. Willow was holding Tara's other hand. Giles was laying on Buffy's lap. He placed one hand on Giles's chest and orbed all of them out of the magic shop.

Just as the light enveloped them, Riley Finn came into view. Riley stared in shock at the light. As Buffy, Giles, Willow, Tara and Xander teleported away."

Several minutes earlier. Riley was just sitting down enjoying a cup of coffee at the Espresso Pump. He enjoyed sitting and watching the people move around. He was a little worried. He had not heard from Buffy yet today. But by now he realized his girlfriend's life was anything but normal.

As he thought about Buffy, he was once more impressed with how easily she took down the HSTs. That this small woman could easily take out threats, that an entire squad of his men had difficulty handling was astonishing.

Riley smiled as his phone rang. "Finn" he answered.

"Agent FInn, surveillance cameras in town are showing a new HST attacking "The Magic Box" on Maple Court. We want you to reconnoiter the situation. Do not, Repeat, Do not attempt to engage the HST. HST is large humanoid,with purple colored skin tone. It also has yellow stripes covering it's skin. It appears to be able to take a fully human form as well. Extreme caution is advised. Reconnaissance Only. Confirm Orders."

Riley was shocked to hear the address. That was the business owned by Giles. He however quickly responded, "Sure no problem I'll swing by the store for drinks. See you later."

The voice on the other end responded. "Acknowledged. Be safe Agent Finn."

The other end of the call had already hung up as Riley said, "Alright see you then."

Riley rushed to his black SUV and drove as fast as possible to the Magic Box. Stopping a half block from the store. He got out and moved closer. Through the shattered front window, he could see Buffy her shirt covered in blood. One cheek had a bloody handprint on it. On the floor was Giles his shirt also covered in blood. Tara and Willow appeared to be unhurt. And Xander was in some kind of white robe. A bright flash of light enveloped the group and they were gone.

Riley moved forward into the ruins of the Magic Box. A large pool of drying blood was on the floor where Buffy and Giles had been. He could see signs of someone or something being thrown into walls and shelves. There was no sign of the HST.

Realizing that there was nothing else to do. He pulled out his phone and dialed the Initiative. Once he was connected, he said. "Hey this is Riley. Just letting you know I should be home soon."

"Acknowledged Agent Finn what is the ETA for your return?"

"No problem I should be back at the house in fifteen minutes."

"Confirmed ETA fifteen minutes. OOD will be expecting you. Report in immediately."

The call ended and Riley quickly left the scene. Before any of Sunnydales finest showed up.

In England, underneath Glastonbury Tor. Several systems register the presence of energy that has not been observed on Earth since the occupation of Ra. As the alarm sounds a translucent woman appears. Examining the readings and knowing what they represent. Ganos Lal was shocked.

She thought about what the reading meant. "If these reading are true, then Oma Desala may have broken her agreement with us. I must find more information. I need to understand what is going on."

As Ganos Lal disappeared and the alarms fall silent once more.

In the Halls of the Elders, Joyce had been exploring. She was currently in a vast library that seemed to have countless books. All of them were in languages that she did not recognize. However she discovered that by picking up one of the books and opening it something incredible happened. The book would vibrate for a moment and the writing rearranged itself to appear in English.

She had picked up several different books. But she could not see rhyme nor reason for how they were shelved. Some were biographies. Some philosophies and others appeared to be medical treatises of some kind. Looking around she thought "Rupert would love this room. Infact we would probably never get him to leave." She giggled at the thought.

She heard a noise from outside and realized that it must be Xander and Tara returning. Heading towards the sound she walked into the large hall and saw Xander had returned. With him were Tara and Willow. And on the ground covered in blood were Buffy and Giles.

"Buffy, what happened?" she cried out rushing to her daughter. She prayed everything was alright but all of that blood could not be good. Getting closer she could see Rupert was either asleep or dead and his shirt was torn and sliced open. As if someone had stabbed him with an immense blade. His shirt was soaked in drying blood. Buffy's appeared to be covered in blood from where she had held him.

"Mom, it's ok. The blood's not mine, it's Giles's." Buffy started crying. She had come so close to losing Giles. If it hadn't been for Xander? She wasn't sure what was going on. But she was sure that this Xander was not a demon.

As everyone stood in shock Xander stood up. "How about we get everyone cleaned up then we can meet together and talk?" He suggested. Everyone more or less agreed to that. As Buffy moved to stand up, she tried not to jossel Giles too much. But moving him off of her lap was enough to wake him up.

Looking up Giles saw clouds and felt an immense sense of peace. "Good Lord, I've died haven't I" He said outloud. Xander, Joyce and Tara all started laughing at that, Buffy and Willow joined in a moment later. Giles after a moment of them laughing at him said, "Well at least I did not end up in Hell, but Purgatory hardly seems fair."

Everyone laughed harder at that statement. Helping the man to his feet Xander said, "You're not in either of those places Giles. This is a little piece of Heaven. Welcome, and I am so glad you didn't need to go to the real Heaven."

At that Willow and Buffy started crying and hugging Giles. He was not sure how to handle the obvious heartfelt showing of love, he was receiving.

As this was happening Faith and Xander came into the room. Faith was obviously apprehensive approaching Buffy, Giles and Willow. She clung to Xander's hand. Xander seeing the blood covered Giles and Buffy asked. "What happened? You guys look like you've been through an armageddon."

Before everyone could start to speak at once, XanderW gave a loud whistle. "Hold it. Let's get everyone cleaned up then we need to talk. No talking until then." Willow opened her mouth to speak. "UH UH everyone means you two Willow! And don't try the resolve face. It won't work this time! Now follow me and I'll show you to some rooms to get cleaned up."

Ok wow this chapter took off on me. I think I have one or two more to go for this piece. Then I hope this story may be done. However it is not the end of the story. Also no idea if Whistler made it or not. Depends on whether or not he got healing wherever he showed up.


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

WARNING There is some serious sap in this next chapter. And it may seem out of character. However please recall the words, you see as you enter Hell. "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" Then think what feeling, or feelings you would abandon, in a piece of Heaven. Who know your guess may be right.

Chapter 10 Discussions & Repercussions

XanderW quickly walked the group through the halls. As they approached a small hallway. Filled multiple doors. Joyce asked, "Xander?"

Both Xanders replied, "Yeees?"

Joyce looked at them both for a moment. They had identical grins on their faces. "The Xander in the robe." She then continued. "I was exploring earlier. While you were gone. And this hallway wasn't here. Where did it come from?"

XanderW smiled, as he continued walking, "This is a small piece of Heaven. If we need something it will be here." Willow, Giles and Buffy stopped walking at that comment. They looked at each other. The question, did he say we're in Heaven was written on their faces.

Walking up to the first door. XanderW opened it. "Buffy you take this room." He than proceeded to point out the rooms assigning, one for each member of the group. "Take a little time. Get cleaned up and changed. You should find clothes to fit you in the room. We'll talk in a little while."

Everyone went to their rooms. Willow grabbed Tara and pulled her into her room. Faith did the same thing with Xander. Buffy looked at her Mom. Her eyes said please come with me. Joyce sighed and said, "How about you and I stay together Buffy?"

Buffy smiled. "That would be great Mom."

Giles found himself the odd man out. Entering his room alone. A short time later. No more than an hour after everyone had split up. A clear bell tone was heard in all the rooms. Not knowing exactly what it was. Everyone went and opened their doors. Outside in the hallway was XanderW in his white robe. Everyone else was now wearing a white linen tunic with linen pants. The even had white linen slippers.

Seeing Xander in the hallway. Faith spoke up first. "Yo Wings. What the hell? Those leathers you gave me disappeared. While me and Boytoy where getting cleaned up. Only thing in there was this stuff. I was this close," Holding her thumb and finger about an inch apart. "To just going commando."

Giles sigh he had noticed that whilst getting cleaned he did not have his glasses. And what's more he no longer seemed to need them, at all. But right now he dearly missed them. If only so that he could clean them rather than look at the children.

Joyce gave Faith a motherly smile, "Thank you Faith for being considerate of everyone. Although I must say these clothes, are very comfortable."

"Yeah but the style went out in, like, the eighth century." Buffy complained.

"Well sorry about the lack of style Buffster. But at least if you go back down to Earth in these clothes you won't end up naked." XanderW smirked.

"Naked" Willow squeaked. XanderW nodded his head and mouthed the word 'Naked'

Giles said, "Well I for one am most grateful to be out of those blood cover rags. And the apparel you have provided us with, is in my opinion Heavenly."

Everyone looked at Giles. Xander and XanderW kept opening their mouths like fish. Faith chuckled "Check it out. Only took G coming to heaven to make a joke." At that everyone had a good laugh.

As everyone proceeded to the room containing the 'Round Table'. XanderW used the same introduction again, Joyce and Tara groaned. As Giles exclaimed, "Dear Lord, Truly?" When Xander admitted he honestly didn't know. Giles found himself excited at the possibility that he could be sitting down at the 'Round Table' of legend.

Once seated XanderW started speaking. "Alright, right now we are only going to go over, some of the things that are going on here. There is an excellent reason for this." He added as both Buffy and Willow opened their mouths to protest his statement. "I want you to recall the battle with Whistler."

Xander broke in, "You where fighting Whistler. Tell me what happened. And please say he's dead. Even if I didn't get to kill him myself. I hope he's dead."

Faith, voiced her agreement, "What Boytoy said." Willow looked upset at hearing Faith call Xander 'Boytoy'. And was just about to say something. Then she recalled what Buffy had said about her dream. And Faith being under a spell. She decided to refrain from saying anything, for now.

This lead to a very quick recap of the battle. Xander looked devastated, at hearing how close Giles came to dying. He actually got up and hugged the older man. Giles to look very uncomfortable. Until he let go of his upbringing. Hugging Xander back he actually said, "I am so very happy that I was not taken away from my children. I can think of no greater joy in my life. Than what I have experienced because of all of you. Even with the darkness that surrounds us. You all make it worthwhile." Buffy and Willow started to cry at Giles's words.

Faith looked like she didn't believe him. How could he care for her? She knew what she had done. Giles looked right at her and said, "All of you. You are all my children. And dare I add. I love you all." Then Faith felt tears filling her eyes.

Joyce who had been sitting next to Giles, reached over and hugged him. "Thank you. For being there for our children." Giles blushed.

Buffy looking mortified, hissed "Mooom"

Willow had the look of a hopeless romantic. One which Tara echoed as she said, "Awhh"

XanderW waited for a moment more. Letting the moment pass naturally rather than forcing it.

Xander was the first to ask, "So what's with the robes mini-me?" Everyone laughed.

XanderW said, "They're a complication. While you were all getting cleaned up. I was meditating. But before I explain the robes. We need to talk about something else..As I said earlier do you recall what Whistler said about erasing your memories?"

Everyone who had been in the battle spoke up. "Yes." "Sure" "But of course."

"It wouldn't have been the first time. Whistler has played with your minds for the last few years at least." XanderW felt it was best to keep his explanation simple.

A universal "What" erupted from Willow, Buffy and Giles.

"It's true. However with the help of Tara and Xander. I hope that we can help you break the spells.

"It's like in the dream B. Do you remember? You have to wear that jacket." Faith said.

Buffy, remembered. "I think I remember. I didn't want to wear it but I had to."

Giles looking very serious asked, "What do we have to do to be free of this spell?"

XanderW replied, "Honestly I don't know yet. But here everyone is safe. We'll find the answer. I was originally planning to work with Tara. To find the information we need. But since you and Willow are here. I would love to have you help us."

"Of course' Willow said, happy at the idea of researching magic. And she got to do it with Tara and Giles.

"It would be my pleasure." Giles said.

"We have Tara's Book of Shadows, and the library here. I suggest we get started."

"What would you like us to do while you're researching?" Joyce asked.

"Honestly just enjoy each others company." XanderW replied. Taking Giles, Tara and Willow he headed to the library with them.

Xander, Faith, Buffy and Joyce were left alone in the room. There was a long moment of awkward silence before Faith stood up and walked over to Buffy. "Yo Buffy, I ain't so good at apologies and shit like that. But I'm sorry. What I did to you, I didn't want to do and I'm fuck'n sorry. I'm so sorry." The last was said, with tears leaking down Faith's face.

Buffy stood up. She reached out and hugged Faith. "Hey you don't have to be sorry. We'll find out who put the spell on you, and make them pay. And anything else you think I need to forgive you for. I forgive you. But please Forgive me too.. I should have been there for you. An...And the night HE DIED. It was my fault too. Maybe even more than yours. I threw him to you. I was the one who threw him. If I hadn't done that you wouldn't have staked him. So please, I'm so sorry too. Please forgive me." Buffy was now crying as well.

As the two girls cried and hugged each other. Joyce wondered at the change. She wondered if it was because they were in a piece of Heaven. Maybe it made it easier to let things go. To ask for forgiveness. And to admit mistakes. And Joyce finally understood at least part of what her daughter had been lying and hiding about this last year.

After gaining control of their emotions Buffy turned to Xander. "Xander I don't know what I did. But I really feel like I owe you an Apology too. Something says I've done some really bad things to you. And I'm really scared. I'm scared that you won't forgive me. So whatever I did I'm sorry. And please don't stop being my friend."

Xander stood up to Buffy. Pulling her into his arms. "Nothing to Forgive. Remember you've been my Hero since we first met. You're one of my girls. I love you. Just like I love Willow. You two are my sisters."

Buffy hugged Xander back. Something that seemed so safe and right.

When she heard Xander say he loved Buffy. Faith felt her insecurities rising. Then he added he loved her as a sister. She felt much better. Still she wondered, if he loved them like sisters? How did he feel about her. The voice in her head reminded her. 'An honest to God Angel said Xander loves you.' If anyone had looked at Faith right then, they would have seen a small content smile on her face.

The four of them sat together and talked. They talked about the small things and the things they hoped for. They talked like Family.

Upon entering the Library, Giles was stunned. There were more books than he had ever imagined, could be found in one place. Row after row, the stacks seemed to go on forever. "Xander, Whilst I would never wish to complain, about an overabundance of books. I believe if we our to look here, we may never be able to find what we are seeking. There are too many books."

Xander laughed. Willow looked stunned, both at the size of the library in front of her. And the utter implausibility of Giles ever uttering the phrase, "Too many books."

"Giles' while if you'd like to, you could go up and down the rows. Taking down each book, looking at it individually. But we have a better method." Xander lead the group over to a set of standing podiums. On each podium was a large closed book.

"Normally you could use one of these books. Just hold it and state the name of the book you are looking for. As long as it is not an intrinsically evil book."

"How can a book be evil," Willow asked.

"Some books were created to destroy those who opened them. Or corrupt them beyond redemption." Xander explained.

"Ah," Giles said, "The Necronomicon Ex-Mortis would be an example of such a book. It is a book solely created with the purpose to unleash unspeakable evil into the world."

"Exactly G-man." Xander grins. Giles groaned but did not even bother asking the man child, to not call him that infernal name. "Now as I was saying. Normally we could use one of these books. But since we have no idea of where the information we need is. We need a way to have the information found for us." Looking at Tara, he continued. "That's why I wanted Tara to get her family's Book of Shadows. The Warren Book of Shadows will allow us to find what we need."

"How will it do that?" Tara asked.

"Tara has the book ever flipped through it's own pages. Until it brought you to the spell you needed?"

"Yes it has." She said.

"Well we are going to tie your book into the library and have it do the same thing." Xander said.

"Only thing is it might take a while to find what we need. There are a lot more pages here for the book to examine than there are in your book."

"That is amazing Xander." Willow said. "It will act just like a search engine does!"

"Whilst I understand how that will help us find the information we need. I am afraid I fail to see how Willow and I are needed to help the research." Giles said.

Xander looked down for a moment. "You caught me Giles. I don't need your help for research. But Buffy and Faith needed to have time alone. Other me is there to support Faith and Joyce is there for Buffy. But if I had said anything like that to them. Well we would still be arguing about it next week."

"Ahh I see," Giles said. "Then perhaps whilst we wait for our answers from the book you could explain to those of us present why there are two Xander Harris's?"

Xander had hoped to avoid this talk for a while more. But he knew the look in Giles eyes. It was time to talk.

After setting up the book of Shadows. Tara placed on her hand on the book and said, "A spell to remove what has been done. A spell to remember things as they really are. A spell to protect from being enspelled again. Three things I ask for one purpose. I ask full of Love. I ask full of Faith. I ask full of Hope." A white glow surrounded Tara and the Book of Shadows. Slowly the glow grew brighter from the book. And Tara's glow faded away.

While waiting Xander explained who he was. What his duties were as a Whitelighter. He talked about his life. Finally he explained about finding himself in the Sunnydale Junkyard at dawn. How he had appeared during the night. He completely left out any references to Xander being a Nexus though.

Hearing the tale Giles remarked, "Anya was right. Xander was hit by the Ferula Gemina. According to Anya it was designed to split a being into two parts. One of them holding the strongest qualities, of the original. And the other the weakest ones. But why did it not work correctly on Xander?"

"Giles let me ask you something." Xander began, carefully choosing his word. "In your experience does Xander have a history of screwing up magic? When he has tried a spell has it ever worked correctly for him?"

Willow hopped up and down in her seat. "Oh Oh like the time he lit the book on fire in the library. I checked the spell he was saying afterwards. It was a spell to help plants grow. Or their was the time when he tried the love spell on Cordelia. And how everyone but Cordelia wanted him. Right? That is what you mean right?"

"Oh My, Do you mean to say that anytime magic is used by or on Xander it will go asque?

"Yes you could say that," Xander replied. "However if we could get back to the subject. You know how I was brought here? Do you also know how it would normally be fixed?"

"Ah yes Anya showed me the correct steps to take prior to her fleeing town." Giles said.

"I'm not going to ask about Anya. But what do we need to fix this? Xander asked.

"We only need a few common spell ingredients and the Ferula Gemina itself." Giles replied.

"Where is the Ferula Gemina now?" Was Xander's next question.

"Oh, I am afraid it is still at in the shop." Giles answered.

Xander smiled. "Ok here is what I'm going to do. I need you to give me a list of what you need. And then I am going back to get them, and the rod. It shouldn't take long but I do't want to take any chances."

Giles wrote out the list of ingredients and explained where the Rod would be. Xander smiled and orbed back down to the Magic Box.

Xander hurried through the remains of the Magic Box. It was now late afternoon. He knew he was running out of time. While meditating earlier he had seen some of the future if he stayed here. He wasn't sure why it would happen. But if he stayed, he would die again and again. Wracked in pain as his body was destroyed. Only to be reformed again. And the cycle would be never ending.

And he also knew what could stop it. If the original Xander died it would stop. No way he would even mention the possibility to his other self. He knew, he could help here. But it wasn't worth the cost. He laughed, a ironic laugh as he recalled teasing Leo. When Leo found himself becoming an Elder. "Man Karma is a bitch."

Looking at the destroyed wall, windows and shelves. Xander gave a sigh. The scene was so familiar. And the people here were still his family. "We'll I can't stay but I can help them at least a little."

Holding out his hands he called upon his powers. In his mind he envisioned what he needed. A large crystal almost eight inches tall and three to four inches wide orbed into his hands. The crystal was uncut. Raw edges and planes. Xander ran his hands over it orbing smaller pieces away. Until he had a beautiful cut crystal, looking into its depths he couldn't detect any flaws.

Standing in the center of the Magic Box Xander grasping the crystal. Xander began chanting.

Broken place in ill repair

Fighting that was centered here.

Evil brings grief and pain

Let not the champions feel the strain

Repair this place, remove the stains

Make it New again and again.

Xander felt power rush out of himself. The crystal began to glow. The shelves, walls floors and windows all repaired themselves. The Magic Box sparkled like new.

Still holding the crystal, he chanted again,

Those who revel in others pain.

Those who seek evils gain.

Bar their access to this place.

Guard these walls in the light's embrace.

Scoobies gather here around,

Their love for one another does abound.

Renew these wards from their love.

Protected on Earth as in Heaven above.

The crystal glowed even brighter as the other spell was added to it. Xander laughed, "And the others said my rhymes for spells sucked. Ha I say Ha!" He quickly moved to gather the Rod, and the spell ingredients.

"One more stop," He muttered. Orbing to the Summers home he repeated his previous actions. As he finished the second spell, a white glowing figure appeared. It quickly resolved into an older woman. She was pretty. And she seemed supremely confident in herself. Since Xander had just cast a ward, on the Summers's home to keep evil out. He wasn't worried.

The woman spoke, "Who are you? How is it that you are here?"

Xander looked at her. She spoke as if she was owed answers. Her attitude left a lot to be desired. Putting on his own airs. "Common courtesy says you should at least introduce yourself before demanding answers from me."

The woman looked at him. She appeared to decide it was better to humor him than to antagonize him. "I am Ganos Lal. I ask again who are you? How did you come to be here?"

"I am no one of consequence." Xander smiled. "And as for how I came to be here, well when two people love each other very much, or in my parents case, when copious quantities of alcohol are involved..."

Ganos Lal interrupted, "You dare mock me? I will not be mocked!"

"Lady I mock everything. And I think your confused. Since I have already mocked you. You can't really say "I will not be mocked!"' Xander finished impersonating the tone voice she had just replied in. "So why is an energy being like yourself so interested in little old me?"

Ganos Lal looked at him, "As you said, "Common courtesy says you should at least introduce yourself first." she looked him up and in a way that strangely reminded him of Cordy, "And I am sure you would never wish to be discourteous."

Xander decided to give a little, "My full name is not important but you may call me Xander."

Ganos Lal acknowledged his response, "How is it that you are here?"

"I really don't believe that that's any of your business. And so I will decline to answer your question." Xander paused, he had an excellent idea of how she would react. Smiling as his suspicions were confirmed by the indignant straightening of the shoulders. Her chest thrusting out. Her entire body was saying, "How Dare You. Do YOU Know Who I AM?"

Xander continued. "If however you would be willing to answer, question for question. I might be willing to talk with you."

Ganos Lal replied in a clipped tone of voice. "Very well I agree to your terms. Now answer my question."

"I think not Ms. Ganos Lal, since you are the one who would like the information. I believe it is only fair that I get the first question to be asked. However I give you my word. For every answer you truthfully, and completely answer. I shall do the same. If you agree to these terms please place your hands on mine and simply state, "I agree."" Xander said, holding out his hands, palms facing upward.

Ganos Lal, placing her open hands on top of Xander's said. "I agree" There was a small flash of light. "What have you done?" Ganos asked, apprehension in her voice.

Xander smirked, "All that I have done is ensure our agreement. If either of us lie or fail to give a complete answer then both of us will know it. A lie will cause a red light to appear around the liar. An Incomplete answer will be pink. The complete truth will do nothing."

Ganos Lal nodded her head. She was not happy but she wanted information. And this was the easiest way to obtain it. "I believe the first question is yours."

Xander nodded in agreement. "Why are you interested in knowing how I came here?"

Ganos Lal hoped she could avoid some truths. She carefully voiced her answer. "The last of your kind was ascended in the time of Ra's occupation of this planet. Our agreement with that being was that no others of your kind would be created. Your kind were too dangerous. I need to determine if our agreement has been broken." No light shone around her. Ganos Lal was relieved that she was able to avoid some details but still answer the question.

"Now I believe it is my turn. How did you come to be here?" Ganos Lal asked.

"As near as I have been able to determine. There was an accident with a magical object and a Nexus of Power. That caused me to be pulled from my home dimension and appear here." Xander replied.

Ganos was startled, she quickly thought of what was know about Nexuses, and how that could affect the situation. While she could sense a Nexus nearby. The Nexus, felt like it was more aligned to evil intent.. It should not have brought this man through. This situation smelled of Chaos. It would bare looking into.

"Are you aligned or working with the being who call themselves 'The Powers that Be'?" Was Xander's next question.

Ganos thought that was a wasted question. But she freely answered. "No they only involve themselves in the younger, less advanced races. The older races learned how to stop their interfering ways."

Xander was relieved to hear that. At least this woman, was not automatically his enemy.

"Will you be staying here or returning to your home?" Ganos Lal hoped for the right answer. She knew how they could get rid of him. But she would hate to cause the death of anyone. Including all the other deaths, that would result because of drawing the Goa'uld to Earth.

"I can't stay. I hope to return to my home, but can't be sure I will be able to." Xander shone with a pale red light. "Well I could stay. But it would involve the death of my alternate in this dimension. Therefore I can not allow myself to stay." The light faded away.

"What exactly killed the others of my kind?" Xander was worried. What if there were still demons out there? They would come after his family.

"The Goa'uld are a species of parasitic lifeforms. When they take over a host, they alter the host. Properties in the blood of the altered host, allowed them to find a way to destroy any being such as yourself. Whether they could be called good or evil."

"Will you be creating more of your kind before you leave?" Ganos Lal asked.

"I had not planned to. But to be honest. After seeing the situation here on Earth. I hope to chose some people to become whitelighters, before I leave."

"You must not do that." Ganos Lal said. "If you do that, you may doom this entire planet."

"Why would the presents of whitelighters doom this planet?" Xander needed this information, more than anything else.

Ganos Lal thought for over a minute, the silence was deafening. As she pondered what she knew of this man. His words, that he would not kill an innocent to stay here. They decided her course of action.

She spoke, "Among the ascended there are those who pose as gods. They draw power from being worshiped. Their worshippers span an entire galaxy. Your kind has the ability to kill them. If they become aware of your kind they will destroy this planet to destroy the threat."

A pale pink light shone around her. Xander arched an eyebrow at her. "There are also the Goa'uld they see your kind as a threat. Because of your powers. They also pose as Gods, to the humans they control. If they become aware of your kinds presence. Then they would destroy the Earth. The war between your kind, and the Goa'uld almost destroyed them. They would not risk your kind returning to power, and threatening them again."

Ganos Lal's answer was unexpected. Xander wasn't sure what he would do at this point.

"Will you swear to me, that you will not create more of your kind, before you leave."

Xander's response was quick, "No I will not. However I will promise you this. I will think on your words. And the possible consequences to Earth. I will also admit your words have caused me to be cautious. I must meditate on them, deeply. Before I choose any course of action."

Ganos Lal wasn't happy with his answer. However he had at least agreed to consider her words. She hoped that this 'Xander' would not endanger the Earth recklessly. She hoped he would listen to her.

While the Ori would definitely try to destroy the Earth. If they knew about it, that was. She feared that many of her own people, would try to ensure the destruction of Earth as well. If only to remove the threat to themselves.

"I have one final question for you. Then I believe we are done." Xander said. "Are these Goa'uld currently aware of, and a threat to Earth?"

"For some time the people of this Earth, have been exploring this Galaxy. Using a device my people left behind. While exploring they encountered the Goa'uld. And have since been fighting them. The Goa'uld have tried to conquer the Earth. So far they have not been successful."

Ganos Lal did not think there was much more she could ask. She had found the information she needed. Oma Desala had not broken her promise to the Ascended. She only hoped that Xander would leave soon. "When will you be attempting to leave this dimension?"

"Soon. Hopefully before the end of the day." Xander replied. "I must think on your words. But I also think we may need to talk again. If I return here and call you. Would you be willing to talk? Your previous warnings have me deeply concerned. And until I meditate, I am unsure as to what the right path is."

If talking would give Ganos Lal a opportunity to convince Xander, she was more than willing to agree. "Yes I shall watch over this place for the next day. If you come here and call my name I will try to respond."

"Thank you Ganos Lal." Xander said. She nodded then became translucent again and left.

"Oh boy!" Xander thought. Earth is in danger of Alien attacks. Weren't demons enough?

Knowing that once he rejoined the others. He would have no time to meditate. Xander needed to think. He needed to ponder the new information.

His eyes closed. Xander floated above the floor. "What is my best course of action?" He asked himself. "What happens to them if I do nothing?"

Powerful images assaulted Xander's mind. He saw everyone. They were falling to darkness. He saw Buffy losing hope. Willow, attempting to destroy the world. Faith never learning to truly trust anyone. Amy was a dark witch. Tara being buried. Cordy in a coma. Joyce lying dead on the floor of her home. Giles leaving. Xander, ostracized. No friends or family for him to help. He kept trying to fight. Like Buffy, this Xander had no hope.

He saw Angel, being manipulated. Giving up humanity. Choosing to lead the forces of evil.

He saw a military base. With a silvery grey circle. He saw teams of people using the device.

He saw a man with glasses become an Ascended being. And he saw him returning to human form.

He saw the blonde woman with him.

He saw the leader. He saw his past. He saw Whistler place a gun in a child's hands. He saw the child died.

He saw a black man. He saw him chose to be free.

He saw a race of aliens. They looked small and grey. They chose death rather than prolong their pain.

"It's a lot to take in don't you think?" A voice said. "The future they are heading towards. Not a great one."

Opening his eyes Xander saw the being in front of him. He might look like a man, But Xander Knew, he couldm't be human.

"The question is what are you going to do? Do you leave everything as it is? If you do that. Well...the world won't end. But you saw what happens to them. "

"Who are you?" Xander asked.

'Now that is a good question. Who am I? You know there is no complete answer to that? Not one that does the question justice." The man said. "I am someone who loves life. I love choice. I love seeing possibilities unfold. I love a good joke. But most of all. I love upsetting those, who would take all of that away." he smiled, "That is who I am."

Xander groaned, "And what should I call you? Larry, Moe or Curly?

"I am rather fond of Shemp. I don't think he gets enough credit." The man replied.

"Shemp it is than. So Shemp why'd you decide to talk to me?" Xander asked.

"Well I thought you could use a hand." Shemp replied. "After, your conversation with Ganos Lal. She's a work in progress you know. I have some real hope for her. Well I knew you might need someone to act as a sounding board. So I thought I would lend a hand."

"So Shemp, you have so free advice for me? Some great words of wisdom?" Xander asked.

"Yup, and it's worth every penny." Shemp answered. "Let them choose. You can open the door. But they need to choose to walk through it. But if you don't offer a better choice for them. Than what you saw. Well it's the most likely thing to happen. Even with the changes that have happened. They need to be bound together. You call yourselves a family. You can offer them that. In a very real, legally and mystically binding sense." He finished morphing into the lord of Swamp Castle.

"Would it be enough? Or too much." Xander asked. Who ever this was, he was powerful. But Xander didn't sense maliciousness from him.

"Don't know. See people have it wrong. The say, 'When one door closes another opens.'. When really, an open door is just a choice. When you choose the other door closes, sometimes. You can choose. How much do you offer to them? How far do you push them? How much do you tell them."

"And the other people I saw? What about them?" Xander said.

"No matter what, because of choices, they will be coming into your friends lives." Shemp said.

"They are basically good people. One of them even had a Destiny. That's why his son was killed. He choose to be a Father and a Husband. Certain groups didn't like that. So they took his choice away."

It didn't surprise Xander that the Pricks and Whistler would kill a young boy. But it did infuriate him. "And if I create whitelighters? What do you think will happen?"

"Change, change will happen. In the long run it would be a good thing. If they survive. In the short run, a lot of people would be dead. Only four or five Billion die." Shemp now looked like a scientist of some kind. No one Xander recognized.

"So most of the population of Earth would die?" Xander was stunned. Shemp's words rung true to him.

"You really might want to consider a few other options." Shemp said.

"Like what?" Xander asked.

'Well look at your Friend Willow. She's already addicted to magic. Has a lot of dark energy in her. She's been programed to abuse magic. You could strip her of her powers. Or you could help her to get cleaned up."

"Tara she's specia. Last good witch of her line. She'll die because the powers don't care."

Xander was stunned again. Willow was already on her way to being a dark witch. Tara would be killed. He might have only just met her. But her kindness and good heart shone through. She was a radiant soul. What should he do?

"Then there are the slayers. Do you know the Watcher's myths say the Elder's helped create the slayer? Do you think the Elders would have bound a demonic spirit into a young girl? You could help them try to cleanse the spirit inside them." Shemp continued.

"And what would that do?" Xander asked?

"Might help. Might hurt them a lot. Might create something new. But think about it. The word "Slayer" really it's all about destruction. Might be nice if they had something else. Or if they where more than just mystical killers."

"And finally you have the parents. Joyce dies. Ruppert leaves. And the children feel abandoned. Did you know even with the spells on him, that man loves all three of them fiercely. And Joyce she hoped to have Xander as a son-in-law for the longest time. Her death brings hopelessness."

"I think you can see. You have choices to make. But if you would take one last piece of advice. Don't just say "Hey you should all become a family." might not turn out so well." Shemp added. He started walking around. "Remember they are completely mortal. And right now they are in Heaven. Presented with a choice, their better angels will speak. They might question the choices later. When they are back down to Earth. But the results will be there."

Looking around at the house Shemp said. "You know I love what you did with the crystals. It offers them a choice. Be kind and loving to one another. The house is protected. Choose not to love each other. The house is not protected. It's simple elegant even. But it is missing a little something."

"Like what?" Xander asked.

"Well for one thing you have this amazing diamond, I believe. And you just have it laying here. Much better if it had a stand. Like this." Shemp waved his hand at the table. A white ivory stand was now sitting on the table. It was perfectly suited to hold the Diamond wardstone.

Matter creation. Xander knew that was big. He had summoned the crystal. Not even trying for diamond just a crystal large enough for his needs. Xander had felt it when the base was created. It had not been summoned. "Wow. You're good."

"Parlor tricks." Shemp said. "Interesting fact. In all the stories where gods visit mortals in disguise. It's the ones who don't ask for anything. But just do their best to be decent. They're the ones that get rewarded. And not with amazing powers. But just with simple things. Like this house, it's nice. It's a home. But it might be too small for the future. So for now maybe it just needs some sprucing up." Shemp waved a hand. "Think I should have snapped my fingers? I have to say, I love when Q does that. It shows style." The house was the same. But the furniture looked refreshed. The carpet looked new. The walls freshly painted. And the rooms just slightly bigger.

"I think you might want to get back to your friends. It's been a while. And I hate to say it. But if you don't want to kill Xander. Then you don't have a whole lot of time left." Shemp smiled. "Xander it has been a pleasure talking with you. Good luck getting home." He flicked his hand at Xander, and Xander orbed out.

"Good kid that one. Hope he makes some interesting choices." Shemp waved his hand once more. A large number of diamond shards land on the counter. "Money can't buy happiness kid but it help with security."

Wow this took a while as I said to one of the reviewers. Xander is basically a god right now. And if Xander has God like powers. What would stop him from doing everything in his power to protect his family and friends.?

I have over twenty thousand more words just in this part of the story. And Xander was getting out of control. I do not want a Super Xander. But he was trying to go there. Luckily Shemp showed up. He told me a few things. And he decided to give Whitelighter Xander a hand.

So I'd love to hear what you think and guess..

Who is Shemp?

What powers should Xander grant, to who?

Willow and Tara both already have telekinesis. And one has the ability to see aura's the other who knows.

Should he create new witch lines?

Should he mess with the slayer spirit?

What does family is a very real, legally and mystically binding sense mean?

Will Janet find out about Jim? Find out in the next episode.


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

WARNING There is some serious sap in this next chapter. And it may seem out of character. However please recall the words you see as you enter Hell, "Abandon Hope All Ye Who Enter Here" Then think what feeling or feelings you would abandon in a piece of Heaven. Who know your guess may be right.

Chapter 11 In a very real, legally and mystically binding sense.

"Xander!" Willow called out as he appeared. "What took you so long?" Willow had been sitting, talking with Tara. Holding her hand and just enjoying her company. Giles was sitting in a chair, reading. They had all wondered, why Xander hadn't returned yet.

"Was there a problem retrieving the items?" Giles asked.

"No I'm sorry for taking so long. But I decided to leave you a small gift." Xander replied. "I'll explain once we get the others here. Wills, if you wouldn't mind? Could you go get them?"

"Sure," Willow replied. She left to get the others.

"So have we found anything yet?" Xander asked.

Tara replied, "We found two spells that look like they'd work. But there are problems and complications with both of them."

"What're the issues?" Xander asked.

"The first spell. I was very surprised to read. As I had always thought sacrificial spells were very dark magic. However this spell requires the willing sacrifice of the casters life to work." Giles said. "Once I realized the difference it was obvious why this spell could work. And since the caster must be completely willing to sacrifice their life. There can be no compulsions or outside influences. If there are such influences the spell fails."

Xander nodded, "A true sacrifice of love than. That would be extremely powerful. And the other spell?

"Possibly more difficult from our point of view. It requires three casters. They must be a magical family. The spell said specifically, 'By Blood and By Love.' And I fear that whilst the love is present in those of us here. Only Joyce and Buffy have a blood connection. And whilst Buffy would qualify as magical. Joyce has never shown an ability to do magic in the past."

"Hmm," came from Xander. "That wouldn't be a problem. Really worse case scenario, I could probably give her powers."

"WHAT!" Yelled Giles.

Just than the others returned. Buffy hearing Giles astonished cry said, "What's the what?"

"You could give someone mystical powers?" Giles asked, ignoring Buffy's question. This was unheard of. The amount of power this man had to posses. It was staggering.

The others hearing this were amazed. Xander said to XanderW, "So that means your going to power me up right?"

"How can you do that?" Willow asked.

XanderW shrugged, completely nonchalant. "It's a whole thing. But yeah, I think I need to try and help you all. Before we try and send me home."

Xander with a happy cry said, "Yes! No more Butt Monkey!" He suddenly started to dance. Faith and Buffy stepped back. Willow smiled. Tara giggled.

"What the fuck boytoy" Faith exclaimed.

"It's the snoopy dance." Willow stated. "He only pulls that out at Christmas or on very special occasions."

Buffy looked at him and said, "You realize you've just jinxed it? You challenged murphy."

Xander stopped dancing. "No I didn't. I at no time said any of the challenging thing. No what else or everythings will be fine."

Buffy looked at him. "Yes you did!"

Xander, "Did Not!"

Buffy 'Did So!"

Xander, "Did Not!"

Buffy 'Did So!"

"Children" Joyce broke in. "Enough please stop acting like you're five year olds." Faith and Tara where both snickering at the two off them. Giles once more wished he still had glasses. Willow looked like she wasn't sure who to side with.

Buffy stuck out her tongue at Xander. "Did so" she whispered.

XanderW cleared his voice, "Back to the subject. If no one minds? As I was saying about the other spell Giles. Just give me a moment." Walking over to one of the podiums he grasped the book lying on it. "Family Bonds and Mystical Connections of the Ancient Phoenicians." The book rippled. Xander quickly flipped through it. Calling Giles, Willow and Tara over. He pointed out the spell he had in mind.

"Look at this. It's a mystical adoption rite. After the adoption the participants are blood family. So Giles, if you were to adopt Tara and Willow you would all be easy fix."

Willow started looking uncomfortable as she read the spell. "Xander, this spell it would make us blood family right?"

"Yup," XanderW replied with a grin.

"Bu. But that would mean my girlfriend is also my sister!" Willow cried out.

"Oh..I uh didn't think of that." XanderW replied.

"Is this the only way Xander?" Giles asked.

"It's the easiest way but if there were any other way, this book would have it." XanderW said.

"Well whilst I have no objection to obtaining daughters and even a son." He said looking at Xander standing by Faith. "I do believe we should try to avoid family being so close together. I prefer a family tree that branches out, to a straight one."

Looking through the book they tried to find an answer. Finally Giles said, "I do not see anything here that would work. The closet possibility was a marriage rite."

Xander looked up, "Why wouldn't that work, Giles?"

"Really Xander. I am sure it has not escaped your notice that we are lacking a groom for Tara and Willow!" Giles replied in frustration.

"Why does it have to be a groom? Does the spell say it has to be a man and a woman?" Xander replied.

Turning back to the book Giles read the entry again. "No it does not. I assumed it would because of the repercussions of this spell."

"Repercussions?" Tara asked. Willow nodding her head.

"Yes, the spell is designed to ensure a fruitful union between the two." Giles explained. Seeing that the others were not understanding. "After the marriage rite is completed. It guarantees children or at the least a child will be conceived at the same time."

'Oh...Oh ah Oh." Was all Willow could say.

" it would satisfy the of the other spell right?" Tara asked.

"Yes, if we combined it with the adoption of one of the two of you." Giles said.

"So the question is. Willow, Tara do you two want to get married?" Xander said.

Willow looked stunned. Her impressive intellect was running through everything. Marriage, she was too young to get married and kids. Their would be kids. And she hadn't finished school. Where would they live … And and and kids! Looking over at Tara. Who was looking at Willow. Willow's brain said, "And Tara."

Tara was worried. She knew that Willow's feeling for her where very new. She was also scared. Scared that Willow would reject her. And she didn't want to contaminate any children with the demon inside of her.

Willow suddenly said, "Yes I want to marry Tara."

Tara her eyes wide, cried out, "I can't." She turned and ran from the room. Willow looked stunned and started to cry. Buffy and Xander moved to comfort her.

XanderW looked at them and said, "Willow before you panic. Let me go talk to her. Joyce if you would come with me please. I think Tara may need a mothers help."

Joyce nodded, "Of course." The two went after Tara. They found the girl back in her room. She was sobbing on her bed. Joyce sat down besides her. "Tara what is it? Why are you so upset. No one will force you to do anything."

"Is it because you don't want to marry Willow?" Xander asked.

"No I want to. I really want to." The sobbing girl wailed.

"Then what is the problem?" Joyce asked.

"Because I'm a demon!" Tara cried. "I'm not even really human! I can't do that to Willow."

Joyce looked stunned. How? Tara looked normal. She looked at Xander who was looking at Tara, as if he could look through her.

"No you're not." Xander said. "I know demons and you do NOT have anything demonic in you."

Tara looked at him in shock. " my family. said it was of the demo could do ." She sniffled and stuttered as she spoke.

"Then they lied Tara." Xander said. "I can promise you, your magic does not come from demons. It is a gift from Heaven. I would know if you were a demon. And you are nothing more than a witch."

"Really?" Tara asked.

"Really, Really!" Xander replied with a smile. "Angel here. Trust me!"

"Than that means I could marry Willow?" Tara smiled. Than her face fell. "But she thinks I don't want to. And she'll never forgive me!" She started crying again.

"Shh" Joyce said. "She thinks nothing like that. Yes she was hurt. But once we explain everything it will be alright. Now you better go wash your face. I'll wait for you. Xander go explain to Willow. Alright?"

Tara nodded grateful for the wonderful people she had met since coming to Sunnydale. Xander left as Tara got cleaned up.

Back in the library XanderW returned. When he explained why Tara had reacted like she did. Giles got a hard look on his face. "Bolloxs, her family should be drawn and quartered. That they would do that to such a sweet girl."

"Well how about we change that?" Willow said. Everyone looked at her. "The adoption. Let's have GIles adopt Tara and that way she has a new Family."

As she spoke Tara and Joyce walked in. Hearing the last line. Giles, whose back was to them said, "If she would have me I would be proud to have Tara as a Daughter. And you as a daughter-in-law Willow."

Tara could only let out a loud "Epp" at Giles's statement.

"So what do you all say shall we have an adoption and a wedding?" XanderW asked.

Joyce looking at everything, and everyone. She felt something was missing. Or more importantly someone would be left out. "Xander, what would it take for me to adopt Faith?"

Faith was shocked. She couldn't believe it. Mrs' S was asking about adopting her. And from what G had said this wasn't a paper adoption this was a whole nother level. "You can't" she said in shock.

Joyce looked at her, smiled and said, "Yes I can! And I want to. As long as you want to too."

Faith didn't reply. Joyce went over to her. "I already have one daughter who is a slayer. And I think having both of you as my daughters would be wonderful. Besides Buffy always wanted siblings."

"Really" Faith's eyes bore into Joyce. Then she looked over at Buffy.

Buffy walked over grabbed her free hand. "Really so what do you say? Sisters?"

Faith looked once more at Joyce and whispered, "yes" Joyce smiled and hugged the girl tightly.

Joyce turned back to XanderW. "Well? Can we do this?"

XanderW shook his head once more amazed by the magnificent woman who was Joyce Summers. "If we couldn't I would find a way. But as it happens it is a very easy ceremony.. So yes we can. Any other Adoptions you two want to do while we are at it?"

Xander looked at the ground. Even with everything that had happened. He still had severe issues. As Tony Harris repeatedly said 'You're a worthless piece of shit' and deep down he knew it.

Giles recalled last night. The words Xander's family had uttered. He knew in his soul that if he didn't speak up he would regret it for the rest of his life. He didn't know why. But he had never been more certain of anything. "Yes I think I would be quite pleased, if I were to gain a son at the same time." He said looking at Xander.

"What?" Xander asked in shock. He knew what had been done to Giles, even if Giles didn't. How could Giles want him? "You can't mean that."

Giles looked at him and said, "I assure you I do. Infact I would go so far as to state that I look forward to having you as my son." Giles smiled at the boy,. No the man in front of him.

Xander found himself unable to reply. Willow came over to him. Hugging him she said, "Say yes Xander. Please say yes." Xander could only shake his head yes. Cleansing tears were falling from his eyes.

Joyce realized that while she felt no over-power need to adopt Willow. She also didn't want the girl to feel left out. "Willow, I would be happy to have you as part of our family. If you want" After all, when all was said and done, she had been a good friend to Buffy for years. And her own family never seemed to be there for her.

Now it was Xander's turn to talk to his friend, "Just say yes Willow. While your parents aren't as bad as mine. They were never there. The times they've been there for you can be counted on one hand."

'But I still love them," Willow squeaked.

"Nothing says you can't, this just gives you even more family to love." Xander replied.

XanderW watched all of this. Part of him thought "Am I doing the right thing?" He knew how this place could affect mortals. And no matter what, everyone here but him, was mortal. He thought about the things Shemp had said. "It all comes down to free will. I'm not forcing them to do anything. Just setting up the situation. So that they can see the possibilities."

Willow looked at Faith. She knew she and Faith hadn't gotten along in the past. And she could now recognize that it wasn't just Faith's fault. But maybe she could use Faith to get out of this. "Faith would it be alright with you?"

Faith was surprised that Willow bothered to ask her. She was tempted, oh how she was tempted to say no way. But this was something important. The question Faith's mind asked her was 'Who do you want to be?'

"Shit Red, ah fuck , yeah do it." Faith said.

"Language Faith!" Joyce said. If she was going to be Faith's mother. She would be her mother.

Faith looked at Joyce. Shocked "What the Fu ah freak?"

"Better Faith." Joyce smiled at her.

OK Maybe it would be worth watching her language to have a mom like Mrs. S.

Willow looked torn. She had tried for an easy way out. But Faith hadn't cooperated. Now it was all on her. She felt everyone's eyes on her. "I'm sorry, but I can't." She finally said. Looking at Joyce she expected to see condemnation.

Joy was just smiling at Willow. "It's alright Willow. I don't want you to do anything you don't want to do."

Willow felt like crying. But she just couldn't do this. She couldn't betray her parents this way. Even if it would be so nice to have Buffy as a sister.

Everyone was standing around quietly. Their feelings were in some ways overwhelming. XanderW knew time was running out. He'd already read the spells, that they would need to use. So he declared. "I think we need to get this started. Everyone follow me."

He took them to another room. This room was surrounded by pools of water that had soft steam rising from them.

"The first thing we have to do is a cleansing ritual." XanderW explained. "During this ritual you will all be cleansed and renewed. But for Buffy and Faith there may be complications." He had decided to try and help cleanse that slayer spirit.

"What complications?" Joyce asked.

"The slayer spirit." XanderW said. "It started out as power stripped from a Demon. During the ritual, I'm not sure what will happen. It could force the spirit out of both of them, which would mean they would no longer be slayers. It could purify the demonic taint, leaving only the power. Or it could do nothing."

Faith had always said that becoming the slayer, was the best thing that ever happened to her. Now she was faced with the possibility of losing that. She questioned herself if it was worth it.

Buffy, recalled what had happened earlier. When the slayer was split off from her. The savage creature that she held inside of her. She found herself hoping it would be removed.

Giles knowing how important the slayer was to the battle against evil asked. "If it is removed what would happen?"

"Most likely a new slayer would be called. Possibly two if the essence does not recombine." XanderW replied.

Faith spoke first, "I want to do it. Being the slayer has been the best thing that ever happened to me. But the chance for a real family. That's worth maybe losing it. Plus like Wings said maybe nothing happens."

Buffy said, "I agree, I'm in"

"It's going to hurt. A lot." XanderW said. "Whatever you do just keep repeating the words. As the ritual completes any pain you feel should go away."

"Joyce, Giles we need to start with you two. Since you will be acting as the parents you both need to enter one of the pools first. Once there you must remove your clothes and say as you bathe yourselves…"

"What?" Joyce and Giles said.

" Do you mean we must disrobe?" Giles asked.

"Yes" XanderW stated. " And everyone else will have to as well." There was an almost universal cry of protest at this last statement. XanderW laughed. "Relax would you, Geez you would think there is something wrong with being naked. Don't worry when you are in the pools the steam can obscure anyone from seeing you."

"Now all of you pay attention this is what you will say."

Spirit of Fire purify me.

Spirit of Earth mold me.

Spirit of Water renew me.

Spirit of Air uplift me.

"Repeat that same line until you see a flash of light. Then move to the next line. When all four have been completed. Repeat the four lines one after the other one last time." XanderW said.

"Once Joyce and Giles are done, everyone else needs to get into the pools." Addressing Giles and Joyce. "When they are done it will be your jobs, to help your new children come out of the water. Guide them to the stands here. I will help Willow when she is done. Then we do the next part of the ritual."

Everyone was nervous.. It was one thing to talk about this another thing to actually do it. Joyce moved to the pools first. Steam rose up obscuring her from site. Seeing this Giles followed suit.

For Joyce this was an easy task. For Giles it was not. Even Elders are not infallible, and both Giles and XanderW had forgotten about the Mark of Eyghon.

As Giles began the ritual he fought back screams as spiritual flames ate at his arm. He found himself repeating over and over "Spirit of Fire purify me" After almost a minute a yellow light flashed. Giles moved to the next line.

"Spirit of Earth mold me." caused his body to strengthen. He felt like a man in his prime. And a green light flashed.

"Spirit of Water renew me" He felt refreshed in body, spirit and mind. A blue glow like clear waters in a lake flashed across his sight.

"Spirit of Air uplift me." He couldn't explain the feeling this produced. It was as if, he could see his whole life in front of him. And he knew it would be a long life. A flash of white occurred.

He spoke all four stanzas of the ritual one last time and exited the pool. As the others were getting ready to enter the pools he said. "Whatever happens, you need to do as Xander has said. Keep saying the line. As you complete it, the pain lessens each time."

Everyone else moved to the pools. As they had been warned for Buffy and Faith this was an excruciating ordeal. They kept repeating the first line again and again. Minutes passed and XanderW was getting very worried. This was looking bad. The two girls voices had become strained and broken from the pain. Joyce obviously wanted to rush to them, but XanderW had warned them not to interfere. Finally when he thought he couldn't take it anymore. A dark cloud lift up from the girls. It hung in the air for a moment. It felt savage and malevolent. Then it disappeared.

Xander's turn was easier that Giles. His soul and mind were cleansed of the malicious effects of his various possessions. He only had to go through the First stanza ten times to complete it.

Tara had the easiest time of them all. The young woman was already pure of heart. The ritual did erase hidden problems in her body. The beatings her previous family had administered. They had left behind marks in her body. After the rite, these were gone.

As they completed their cleansing. Either Giles or Joyce was their to help them out of the water.

The unexpected situation was Willow. As she started the ritual she found, she was forced to pay a price, for the dark magics she had previously cast. The soul curse had left a taint on her. This taint had to be purified. While not taking as long as either Buffy or Faith. Willow's purification was longer than Giles. Because Giles had repented of his youthful mistakes. Willow having never thought she was wrong, had ripped a soul out of Heaven. And forced it into a vampire. For her, as she chanted the lines. She was shown exactly what she had done, to the soul of a man named Liam. During the purification she felt everything. Tears streamed down her eyes as she completed the rite.

XanderW was waiting to help willow out of the pool. He handed her a white linen robe. Pulling her aside, he asked. "Willow what happened?" He knew the cleansing had been much harder on Willow than he had expected.

Willow started to cry. Tears fell down her face as she said, "I saw what I did to Liam. I felt everything he felt by being put into a dead demon infested corpse. I thought I had done the right thing. I gave Buffy back Angel. But I, I didn't. I punished an innocent man's soul. I put him into a corpse that can never feel true happiness. And I can never be forgiven." She finished in a hushed voice.

XanderW looked at her. "Than you need to do something to fix the problem. You have a few choices. You could dust Angel."

Willow was shocked but not surprised. Xander wanted her to kill Angel. "I know you hate him." She began only to have XanderW stop her.

"I said you COULD, not that you SHOULD. What you SHOULD do is find a way to remove the demon from him. Dusting him does not repay the debt that you now owe to the soul of Liam. It would only be easier for you as your mistake would not be around."

Willow nodded. "Oh, ah ok, I can do that. Or maybe find a way to turn him human. That might work, right?"

XanderW looked at her, "I won't be here to guide you. So you will have to decide when you have done enough to correct your mistakes."

Clouds still seemed to cover everyone who was naked. They had been surprised that their clothes where no long on the floor. XanderW just smirked at them. But it was too late to do anything except blush.

XanderW stood between the two groups, Willow at his side. By the bowls were ritual knives. "Giles, Joyce take the knife and slice along the wrist to your palms. Drip the blood into your bowl and say."

"By my blood I Joyce am the Mother."

"By my blood I Ruppert am the Father."

"Then pass the knife. Joyce you need to pass it to Buffy first. Giles it won't matter who you pass it to first. Then each of you slice yourself from wrist to palm. Let the blood drop into the bowl. Saying"

"By my blood I ' state your name' am the Daughter and Sister."

"By my blood I Alexander am the Son and Brother."

"Once everyone is done. Clasp hands and state"

"By Our Blood we are Family."

Everyone did as instructed, From Joyce the knife passed to Buffy. And from Buffy to Faith. At the other side Giles passed the knife to Xander. When Tara finished her part they grasped hands. Once everyone was ready they all said in one voice.

"By our Blood We are Family." There was no bright flash of light. No bells or whistles. But a soft glow spread from their clasped hands. As the glow grew XanderW began to speak. He placed one hand over each groups joined hands. They couldn't understand what he was saying. It was musical and right in some ways. *"Through time and eternity these family shall be bound. What was once separate will forever be joined. Together always. Strengthen them. Unite them. Curse any who would divide them. In the light they shall walk and never falter."*

Slowly as Xander spoke. The light covered each group enveloping them. Once XanderW finished the light seemed to soak into their skins.

Giles had to know, "XanderW what was that language you were using?" XabderW smiled and whispered his answer to Giles. Giles was shocked to find it was true Enochian.

XanderW smiled. He knew his time was running out. While the rituals and cleansing had been taking place, he had started to feel the pain, his body was killing itself slowly. He wanted everyone to move quickly out of the room. He needed to finish the plan.

"Everyone if you'll look to the walls, you will see fresh clothes. Please get dressed. We have a wedding to perform. Then one last spell to cast." Everyone quickly got dressed. The new clothes were white linen robes.

Moving back into the center of the room. XanderW called Tara and Willow to come up. He placed Giles and Joyce to either side of their daughters. "Tara and Willow. I want this to be special for you both. The bond of you both in marriage. Uniting yourselves as a Family. I warn you. Do NOT do this only because you need to cast a spell."

"Do you do this from a sincere desire to be with one another. To love and support one another. To fight to keep each other true to the light. To hold each other. To teach one another. Do you wish to be joined together?

Tara spoke looking into Willow's eyes "I do"

Willow responded her eyes lost in Tara's "I do"

"Clasp your hands together." Xander then began chanting in a dialect none of them recognized.

As the chant completed a soft white light engulfed the two women. It hovered over them. Passed through them. Then settled on their stomachs. Finally fading away. "You may now Kiss your wife." Willow and Tara shared at first a tender kiss. But it turned more passionate as it continued.

Giles eventually cleared his throat loudly to bring the two brides back to the present. Tara and Willow blushed. They held hands, as they looked at their family. Everyone congratulated the two women.

"Once we get back home we have got to have a reception." Buffy said.

"So is it Giles-Rosenburg or Rosenburg-Giles? Xander asked. Willow and Tara looked startled for a moment then both realized that they had new names. To go with the new family.

"Tara and I will let you know. When we decide how it will be." Willow said as she hugged her wife. "And you'll have to tell me what you think of being Alexander Giles."

"Easy I am ecstatic. I finally have a Father worthy of the title." Xander grinned.

Giles looked at Xander. He smiled. "I am so happy to hear you say that….G-man."

Xander was shocked. Everyone was shocked. Until Faith let out a loud laugh. Of all the places Giles could go, that was one, none of them had seen coming.

Faith however saw what the others didn't "So that means between the two of ya, we got our own G-men." Both Giles and Xander looked shocked, for a moment.

Then Xander smiled. "Yeah I'm good being a G-man. And if together we are the G-men. Well I'm happy with that two."

XanderW started speaking. "Look I'm sorry to rush us along. But we have a spell that need to be cast. I need everyone to gather in a circle. Giles you need to hold Tara's hand. And Tara you need to hold Willows. From their places don't matter."

Xander held Willow's other hand. Faith quickly grabbed his free hand. Joyce held Faith's hand Buffy was between her Mom and Giles. XanderW stood in the center of the circle.

"I can't really help with this part. Remember you three need to chant the words together. Giles whenever you're ready start"

We who have Bonds of Blood and Love call upon the Heavens.

We who have been wronged Call upon Spirits.

We who have lost our truth Call for Justice.

We ask for the removal of lies. No longer to be heard.

We ask for our eyes to be opened. No longer to be clouded.

We ask for our minds to be returned. Never again to be violated.

We offer our acceptance of each other.

We offer our forgiveness of each other.

We offer our love of each other.

As the spell completed Joyce felt her true memories of Hank returned. She now knew. He had never cheated on her. But she also knew, it was too late to fix. She cried. A silent tear, for what was lost.

Looking at the others she said, "Buffy who went down to the master's cave to save you?"

Buffy looked at her Mom. Her eyes got wide. "It was Xander! He brought Angel down to save me! Oh my God how could I have forgotten that?"

Quickly Giles, Buffy and Willow started remembering. Willow started cry as she recalled how she'd belittled her friend. Even while praising the deeds he had done. Tara hugged her wife and said, "Shhh it's alright. He still loves you." Willow held her wife and cried.

Buffy now knew why, she'd felt the need, to apologize to Xander earlier. She couldn't believe it. All the times he had been there for her. She rushed over to him. Hugging him she buried her head against his chest. "Thank you." she whispered to him.

Giles was standing to the side. He too was so very pleased. Pleased he had listened to his soul. He now understood the value of the man beside him. The man who had only a short time before, became his son.

"Everyone we need to take care of a few more things. Please let's move this to the Round Table room." XanderW said.

Wow another chapter down. I really wanted Willow to join the families but she just didn't have the courage to try. But she is now married to Tara and one or both of them are pregnant..Tara, Faith and Xander didn't have any Family holding them back.

Than Willow came and asked to be punished. So suddenly I will have to look into her trying to fix what she did to Angel.

And while letting this simmer to try and get it right I found out what happened to him. Incidentally who do you think of all the system lords would be the worse one to get their hands on Whistler? And Why? Remember Goa'uld have genetic memory and according to Ganos Lal they can avoid the Powers messing with the, Also if they know how to kill Higher level demons, Whitelighters and elders what else do they know?


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. Any characters that Shemp portrays I also do not own the rights to. This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 12 Seriously? No no Seriously?

XanderW lead the others to the Round Table. Once they were all seated, he began recounting everything. When he told of how he died in his own world. Everyone was shocked. Buffy recalled how she and the others had worked to keep Xander away that night. Even knowing that they had been influenced by Whistler, and the Powers. It was hard to believe how close they had come to failing. Xander continued explaining how in his world he had been assigned to Buffy, Willow, Faith and Amy as their Whitelighter.

At the mention of Amy. Willow asked, "Does that mean that you could de-rat Amy?"

"She's a still a rat?" XanderW asked.

Willow nodded her head, "I haven't been able to break the spell on her."

"Then I'll try." XanderW said. Willow was confident that he'd succeed. Xander continued, telling how he had ended up in the Sunnydale Junkyard. And how they now believed, that the Ferula Gemina was responsible.

He then told them everything he had learned from Whistler. Buffy was horrified to learn about what had been done to her Mom and Dad. "We have to break the spell on him!" She cried.

"Buffy, While Willow, Tara and Giles could do that. But then what happens?" Joyce asked. Even with the spell gone. It had been over four years since the divorce. She recognized even if Buffy didn't, that there would be no magical reconciliation. "If we do break the spell. Your Father will have to bear the guilt for things that he did after the spell. His girlfriends. His failure to visit often. I want you to really think about it, before deciding. Is it the best thing for HIM? To know the truth. And he would have to know about everything, Vampires, Demons and Magic."

Buffy hadn't thought of those consequences. She sat back in her chair. She didn't know what to do. "I'll think about it. I didn't think of any of those things."

"I know honey. And now I can remember the man I married. And I am grieving for what was taken from our family. But I love him enough, to think about what he would suffer. If he knows the truth." Joyce said.

XanderW continued the tale. He talked about how all of them had been manipulated in order to fulfill the Destinies they had. "The thing about destiny is, it's not guaranteed. People are supposed to have choice. The Pricks that Be have decided to remove choice from you. That's why they did what they did."

XanderW came to Xander. When explaining that Xander was a Nexus of Chaos. And how Xander should never try to cast spells. Unless it was a life, or everyone on the planet will die situation, Giles almost choked. "Dear God in Heaven." he exclaimed.

"Giles what's so big about Xander being this Nexus thingy?" Buffy asked.

Everyone was focused on Giles so they did not see XanderW start to spasm, as tremors cascaded through him.

"Buffy, it would take a great deal of time to fully explain what a nexus is capable of. And God help us if Ethan Rayne ever learned of this. But sufficient to say that Xander's status as a Nexus of Chaos, now explains so many things. Including how his alternate self came to be here."

"Now we only have a few things left.. My robes. They're robes, that only Elder's wear. Back home this happened to a friend. You could say the Universe promoted him. I am pretty sure that because their are no whitelighters, or Elders here. I was basically drafted. But as an Elder, I have access to a lot more power."

"How much more power?" Asked Willow. She had been mostly sitting quietly. Holding Tara's hand the entire time.

"Willow, you know how in Ghost Busters they have the question. 'Are you a God?'" Willow nodded her head yes. "My answer would be 'yes'."

"If a whitelighter is a car engine. A Elder is a Nuclear power plant." XanderW explained." The difference is that great. I really hope, really really hope. That when I get home, I'm back to normal."

Everyone was shocked. The idea of anyone as powerful, as XanderW had just said he was. It was inconceivable.

XanderW then said, "Because of what happened to me, I found out a few more things. When I went to retrieve the Ferula Gemina earlier. I cast a few spells in the Magix Box and in your house Joyce." Pushing through the questions he could see coming. He continued. "I tied them to two crystals you'll find them when we go back. They should protect your house and the store from anyone with Evil intent. And if someone gets through that. The crystals are designed to repair the place they're in. Please though, don't try to break the house, just to see it work. They're intended to keep you from suffering because of evil."

"I thought about casting the spells on your house. But I think a crystal is better. If you ever need to move the crystal can be moved. Also the spells should recharge by all of you being together."

"Do you mean we must perform a spell or ritual to recharge the crystals?" Giles asked.

"No. Although Rituals like Thanksgiving and Christmas will probably really charge the crystals. The crystals are powered by the love you all feel for one another. As long as there is love between you. Then the crystals will charge."

XanderW went to continue, but when he opened his mouth another cascade tremor ripped through him. Joyce got to him first. "Xander what's wrong? And don't you dare tell me it's nothing."

XanderW smiled at her. "I need to go home. The longer I'm here. The worse it will get. But the thing is, it can't actually kill me." He smiled at her and the others.

"Than we need to get you home right away." Joyce said.

"NO!" XanderW said. "I have things, I have to tell you all. It's too important."

"Alright Xander" conceded Joyce. The clear desperation in XanderW's voice. It had shocked her. But she could accept it. If it was so important to him.

"When I was setting up the other crystal at Joyce's house. I received a visitor. A type of energy being call an Ascended." XanderW then explained his conversation with Ganos Lal. He left out the part about how, if Xander died he would be fine. This was Xander's world. And he had his Faith waiting for him.

At the revelations about Aliens, everyone was stunned. Their where real aliens out there. Granted the Goa'uld sounded really bad.

"Ra was one of the Goa'uld wasn't he?" Willow asked.

"Who's Ra and why do you think he was an alien Wills?" Xander asked.

This lead to Giles explaining Anya's tale to them. The story about how the gods of ancient Egypt, had come down and defeated the disappearing ones."

" Ya, sounds like Ra was one of these Goa'uld" Faith said, agreeing with Willow.

XanderW continued the full story. When he explained the fact that if he created any whitelighters it could lead to the destruction of the Earth. By either the Goa'uld, or the ascended who pretended to be Gods. No one knew what to say.

"So that's my dilemma if I use my powers to create a whitelighter. That person would eventually become a Elder. Which might destroy the world." XanderW concluded.

Xander was the first to speak, "I really got nothing. We could really use the help. But do we have the right to risk the world?" Everyone was very thoughtful at Xander's question.

XanderW spoke again, "Even if I don't create another whitelighter. I can help you. One of my powers, as an Elder, is the power to grant powers. And that's what I'd like to do. Since there are already witches here. And that hasn't destroyed the world. This should be fine. In fact, I'm fairly sure that both Willow and Tara have active powers."

"What?" Exclaimed Willow.

"What are active powers?" Tara asked.

"When we were fighting Whistler you both used telekinesis. That's an active witch power. An active power is different from spell power. You have to always remember the rule of three, when casting spells. And the big rule NO casting spells for personal gain. But an active power is different. You should use it, as often as possible. When you do, you gain better control and strengthen it. As long as you're not using it to harm innocents, you should be fine."

"Yo Wings, so you mean I'd be able to do shit like that too?" Faith asked. As Joyce turned to correct her language. Faith said, "Sorry Mom." Then she grinned, "Feels weird calling you Mom. But good too."

Joyce just smiled and hugged her daughter.

XanderW said, "All of you should be able to do that. As an Elder I can grant powers. The only one I can't make more powerful is myself." Even as he said it XanderW had a sinking feeling.

Xander said, "Were the same person right? So does that mean you couldn't give me any powers?"

XanderW looked at his alternate. "Only one way to know for sure. If all of you are willing. I want to empower you all."

"Count me in Wings" Faith raised her hand. Slowly everyone else raised a hand in agreement.

"Alright let's do this." XanderW said. " Joyce I want to start with you."

Moving into the center circle of the Round Table he stood in front of her. XanderW took her hands in his hands. A soft glow enveloped their hands. The crystal stone in the center of the room matched the glow.

"Joyce Summers will you swear to use the powers given to you, to protect the innocent and battle the forces of evil?"

Joyce answered "I do" The crystal pulsed in time with her oath.

"Do you swear to never use the powers given to you for personal gain?"

Joyce answered again "I do" The crystal pulsed in time with her oath.

"I name you Joyce Summers, a Witch. First Matriarch of the Summers Line. and I give to you this book, that the knowledge gathered by your family will grow and never be lost." A book appeared on the table under their hands.

"Dear Lord, is that a Family Grimoire?" Giles asked.

"Yes it is Giles." XanderW answered. "As long as your family servers the light. This book will open for them, and help them. If they fall, the book will reject them. And it will be taken from them."

"Your turn Ruppert." XanderW said as he performed the same questions for Giles. The only difference was he proclaimed Giles, the Patriarch of the Line Giles. The crystal pulsed in time with his oaths. He also gave him a book of shadows.

Around the room he went. Willow was next. He took her oath and pronounce Willow a witch of the Rosenburg Line. However as Xander confirmed her line he said, "Willow until you have redeemed yourself. You will not be allowed access to your Book of Shadows. As ignorance and thoughtlessness caused your actions. You must prove you are worthy of the knowledge. Only by atoning for your crime will you prove yourself."

Tara was a witch of the Giles-Warren lines. Since she already had the Warren Book of Shadows no other book appeared.

Grasping Buffy's hands, He proceeded to ask the same oaths. But as Buffy answered, something was different. He felt a premonition take hold of him. He saw the destiny of the slayers. He saw Buffy and the others helping to lead an army of slayers. Sometimes Faith was by her side. Sometimes she was alone. But both were slayers.

"Do you swear to serve the light? No longer as just a slayer but as a Protector?" The word seemed to echo throughout the room.

Buffy wasn't sure what to do. All the other questions had been easy enough. She didn't know the answer. Could she do it? She looked at her family. "Yes I do." The crystal lit up brighter than any other time.

The light flashed again and with it there was a clear bell that sounded. The crystal in the center of the table rang with the sound.

"You are now the First of your Line, Daughter of Summer, Slayer, Protector and Witch. You and all who descend from you." XanderW proclaimed. XanderW smiled at her. "I think you made the right choice."

Turning to Faith he said, "Are you ready to go?"

"Same Shi..I mean stuff going to happen to me?" Faith asked.

"Probably. Only way to know for sure is if you take my hands." XanderW replied. He held out his hands in front of Faith.

Faith looked at him. Looked at her own hands then placed her hands in his. The promises were made. The light and the bell sounded again. The crystal in the center of the table rang with the sound again.

"You are now the First of your Line, Daughter of Winter, Slayer, Protector and Witch. You and all who descend from you." XanderW proclaimed again.

Turning to Xander. Who had watched everything happening, with a sinking feeling in his gut. He knew nothing would happen for him. He had taunted murphy. XanderW took his hands. No glow came forth. Xander looked at him, they both knew why. They were the same person.

"I'm sorry Xander. I can't affect you. I can't grant powers to myself. And we're the same person." XanderW said.

Xander looked at him and his family. He could see the looks of sorrow and pity. He held his head up high. "You know what? It's alright. So I don't get super powers. My family is safer than ever before. And I have a family that cares about me. I'll take that any day over super witch powers."

Buffy called out trying to cheer him up, "Hey and you're still that Nexusy thingy right. That means you've got loads of power."

Willow chimed in. "That's right. And remember it was you, that Whistler and the Powers were afraid of. Not any of us!"

Faith looked at Xander. She had been sitting next to him the whole time. In the last day she knew that her life had changed. And it was all because of him. The man who loved her. Not just lusted after her. Although she was certainly sure he did that too.

She reached over and pulled him into a smoldering kiss. "You don't need anymore powers. The ones you got beat everything else! And I plan on keeping you. So get used to the idea." She then let the stunned man go.

As everyone was unsure of what they should be saying. Joyce smiled and said. "I think we will need to talk, about your intentions towards my daughter Xander."

Xander gulped, "Oh Boy."

XanderW fell to the floor. The pain was so intense, he couldn't stand. Xander went over the table to reach him. XanderW's body seems to be fading in and out. In time with the convulsions. After almost five minutes the spasms stopped. Everyone was stunned.

Xander looked at the whitelighter. "You have to leave."

XanderW nodded. "If I don't I'll die, again and again and again."

Giles approached XanderW, "We have what we need here. We can try to send you home. Just let me get the things."

"No, I need to take you all back down to Earth. If I'm not here you'd all be stuck here. We'll do it on Earth." Even as XanderW was speaking, everyone could see the intense pain he was in.

Giles turned to Willow. "Please go get the bag from the library. We don't want Xander strained anymore than he has to be." Willow nodded and ran out the room. She returned less than a minute later, bag in hand.

XanderW looked at them. "Everyone grab hold. It might be a bumpy ride." Once they were all holding him he orbed to the Summers house.

Once they had arrived. Everyone felt intense nausea. They fought down the urge to vomit. Giles quickly went about preparing the spell, to reverse the effects of the Ferula Gemina.

Faith approached XanderW, "Yo thanks. You gave me back me."

XanderW smile, "No I didn't you took yourself back. With help from him." He pointed at Xander. "It's not going to be as easy here. Up their it was easier to ignore the voices in your head. Here it's a lot harder."

Faith nodded her head, "Yeah I think I get that. But it's not bad here. Still ain't Heaven. So what do I do?"

XanderW looked at her, "Be there for him. He has the same voices. He'll be there for you." He pointed to Xander who was standing to the side trying not to listen in. XanderW smiled, "And you take care of our girls."

"Always," Xander promised. "You know I can't say it all. But thank you. For giving them back to me. I knew I was losing them." Xander paused "They were cutting me out. Now I have an even bigger family."

"No problem G-man" XanderW replied.

Giles called out, "We are ready I need both Xanders over here."

Faith and Xander helped the trembling Elder to his feet. They walked over where Giles had prepared the spell. "Stand together" Xander held the other Xander upright.. The Xanders waited. Giles pointed the rod at them and activated it.

The light from the rod hit the Xanders where they were leaning together. The light was brighter than the sun. Everyone except Xander cried out in pain. When they were able to see again their was only one Xander laying on the floor where he had fallen.

Faith reached Xander first. She knelt down and checked him for obvious injuries. "He's ok. Why is he out cold?"

"Yes well that was actually somewhat expected. The same thing happened to Buffy. He should be awake in a few hours." Giles said.

Willow and Tara were talking when Willow suddenly lost all the color from her face, "Oh Goddess! We forgot about Amy!"

Giles looked down, "Yes I am afraid we did. But in all honesty we did run out of time. And whilst I am sure that Xander could have turned her back to her human form. I am equally sure that working together we will accomplish the same thing."

"Ruppert would you come here please," Joyce called. Giles went over to where Joyce was standing in the kitchen. She was holding a large Crystal almost nine inches tall and three to four inches in diameter. It sat in a Beautiful ivory stand. "Please tell me I'm mistaken but what do you make of this." Holding the crystal out to him.

"Well I would suppose that, it's the crystal Xander tied the wards into." Giles replied.

"No Ruppert, look at the crystal. What kind of crystal is it?" Joyce asked again.

Giles looked at it again. As Buffy and Willow drifted over to them. Tara was sitting with Faith and Xander.

Buffy took one look at the crystal and asked in a strangled voice, "Mom is that a diamond?"

Willow looked at Buffy, "Don't be silly. It would be impossible to get a diamond that big. I mean it is theorized that they could be that big, deep in the Earth's crust. But no one could get to them."

Buffy looked at Willow, "I bet a Elder could?"

Willow stopped then looked again, "Oh oH Oh, holy goddess that's a diamond!"

Joyce looked at the kitchen counter where a pile of shards lay. "Then I suppose these are diamonds too? And has anyone else noticed the house?

Buffy let out a sound that she would forever deny was "Squee!" But everyone else would swear she squeed.

"But what about personal gain? Would this count as using magic for our personal gain." Willow asked.

"Willow did you or anyone else here use magic to get these?" Joyce asked.

"Well no it was the other Xander." Willow admitted.

"What would he gain from our using these?" Giles continued.

"Uhm nothing I guess he's not here anymore." Willow replied.

"Then I would hazard to guess that these were left for our express benefit. He did not break the rules of magic. No I believe he wanted to help us and these shall be an immense boon. As Joyce now has two daughters to educate, and house. I believe it is only fitting that we express gratitude for this gift."

Joyce added "I couldn't agree more Ruppert. Of course you realize he probably did the same in the Magic Box."

"Oh my. I suppose it would be a good idea to verify that then. It wouldn't do to leave something like that lying about." Giles said.

"Buffy whilst Faith and Tara are watching Xander would you accompany me to the magic Box?"

"Sure Giles." Buffy replied.

"Ruppert take my Jeep. It will be faster and safer." Joyce said.

Xander was dreaming. He knew he was dreaming because he was in the captain's ready room on the Enterprise. The door swooshed open and Xander felt his heart drop. "Oh Shit! I am the Butt Monkey!"

Q looked at Xander, "You know monkey boy, you're really not the Universal Butt Monkey."

Xander stared at Q, "Ah gah Ah."

Q loked at him pity visible on his face. "Too much for you? Sorry I thought you would get a kick out of it." Q morphed into Shemp. "How about now. Easier to handle 'Shemp' than 'Q'?" Shemp asked.

"You Q...Shemp how…" Xander managed to say.

"Really Xander I thought you would be quicker on the uptake. No I'm not Q. I do like the man though. He has style. You can call me Shemp. The other you did." Shemp said.

Xander still had a wild panicked look in his eyes.

"Really Xander if I was going to hurt you, there's almost nothing you could do to stop me. So calm down have a seat let's talk." Shemp pointed to a comfortable looking chair. Sitting down Shemp faced Xander and held up a plate. "Twinkie?" He offered.

"Great Zeus..Who are you?" Xander asked.

"Well I am certainly not that old windbag. Really all Zeus was interested in was chasing girls and sometimes boys. And vanilla sex was not something Zeus was into. I mean have you heard the stories. He was a bull or a swan. He liked it kinky." Shemp said.

"I, ah I don't know what to say to that." Xander said.

"I know you're thinking what's going on? Well it's simple you need some information. I have said information. I thought I would share." Shemp said. "I mean, I shared some things with Joyce and Giles. But you are a lot more fun."

"Share. Sharing is good." Xander said. "Where am I?"

Pointing to a large T.V. Shemp said, 'You're right there." On the screen he could see himself. He was lying on a couch. Faith had his head on her lap. She was stroking his hair and talking to Mrs. Summers."

"So this is a dream? Right?" Xander asked.

"Wrong," Shemp said. "This is a mystical vision. Like I said you need to know somethings."

"OK." Xander said. His brain still was not fully engaged.

Shemp sighed, he really should have anticipated this. But you can't cover everything. Still the kid would probably get the basics.

"So kid remember how the other you said, he was told. He shouldn't make any whitelighters or the Earth might be destroyed?"

At the words Earth and Destroyed, Xander's Brain reengaged. 'What...Yeah I remember."

"See I wasn't completely honest with him." Here watch this. On the T.V. Xander saw his whitelighter self talking with Ganos Lal and then Shemp. The show ended with Shemp sending Xander away. "So kid can you tell me where I wasn't honest with the other guy?" Shemp asked testing Xander.

'Oh man I hate pop quizzes." Xander said.

"Xander life is a pop quiz. So do you know or not?" Shemp asked.

Xander though. "You didn't answer his question. He asked you 'So most of the Earth's population would die?' You never answered." Xander guessed.

"Knew there was a reason I liked you Xander." Shemp said. "You're right I didn't answer him. DO you want to know the answer? Or would you rather know the question he should have asked?"

"Can't I get both?" Xander said.

"Nope one or the other? Your choice." Shemp replied.

Xander thought. Shemp had given an answer before. Would the answer to other Xander's question give him more information. Which was more valuable? He replayed everything that had happened since he woke up in this weird vision. He smiled Q was the key.

"I want to know the question." Xander said.

Shemp smiled at him. "He should have asked. 'How many would die as a direct result of my creating whitelighters' I still wouldn't have answered him but if you like I WILL answer you. If you really want to know."

'Not that it really matters he's gone. And he didn't create any whitelighters." Xander replied.

"Wrong kid it mattered. And it still matters. See depending on how many he created the number goes up the more he created. As it stands he did create exactly one, whitelighter. Sort of." Shemp grinned.

"What?" Xander was stunned. "Did something affect my memory? Because I can't remember him creating any whitelighters."

"Well he didn't create any full whitelighters. More like a half white lighter. Some of the same powers, but still mortal. Some powers are a bit different. See a whitelighter isn't human. And when you take a human and cross a whitelighter you get half of each." Shemp watched Xander to see if he would figure it out. Xander just looked confused. Where was this going?

"Then add in the fact that the human in question is a Nexus of Chaos and what do you think happens?" Shemp gave him a final hint.

Human Nexus of Chaos. Non human whitelighter. Oh Shit. Oh shit. "OH SHIT" Xander yelled.

'Right you are kid. Congratulations! You're your own species." Shemp handed Xander a balloon that said 'It's a BOY!'

"But … But Earth..Destruction. My fault." Xander said.

"Nope see short term could mean anything. I guarantee that in the next fifty to seventy five years, four to five billion human will die on Earth." Shemp said.

"So maybe you're wondering hey why me?" Shemp continued. "Well you're a Nexus of Chaos. But this used a lot of power. And to be honest I pulled some from you to tie up loose ends. Tell Faith that the Professor was cool with it. He knows she wasn't at fault. Oh and her new Dad will understand her a lot better. Plus he was owed one too."

"Anyway, You're still a Nexus. You will be til the day you die. Probably. But right now you might find things aren't quite as Chaotic. But I have faith in you. I don't think you'll let that stop you. Remember I'm rooting for you."

Shemp now wore a foam finger that said Xander is #1. And a shirt that said 'Xander He's Our Man!' The look was completed by a ballcap with attached beer cans. The cap read 'Team Xander'.

"So anything you would recommend I do?" Xander cautiously asked. He refused to be anymore freaked out. Than he already was.

"Hey I would love to see you working on spells. You know get in there, and cast some magic." Gomez Adams said. Still dressed the same. His foam finger rising high in the air. To emphasize the point. His hand lowered as he added, morphing back to Shemp. "Also you could use some knew friends."

"Hey what are you evil? I'm not leaving my friends. I just got them back!" An indignant Xander replied.

"Never said to leave them. I said make more." Shemp replied. "After all no one can have too many friends. You know new stories to hear. Memories to make. Hey I bet you, Your new Dad and good old Uncle Ethan, could really have a good time togehter!"

"You want me to be friends with Ethan Rayne?" Xander screamed. "WHAT THE HELL!"

"Well fine if you think he's too much. You could always hang out with Jack." A slightly less exuberant Shemp said.

"Who's Jack and why would I want to hang out with him?" Xander asked.

"Jack's a great guy. Really good sense of humor. Manages to get in almost as much trouble as you. Oh and once you show him how Whistler and the Powers killed his son. He will never stop till they are destroyed." Shemp said. "Oh and make sure you have Jack introduce you to Loki. The little guy is desperate to find new friends. I feel sorry for him."

"Loki? The Asgard God of Evil?" Xander croaked out. "I don't think I want to be his friend," Mental Xander was busy telling mental Willow 'See comics are a valid source of information.'

"No wrong Loki. This is Loki." Shemp waved his hand and the T.V. showed a small grey alien with big black eyes.

"A Roswell grey, you're kidding me?" Xander didn't know how many more shocks he could take. "Wait, he's not going to be probing me,.. down there is he?"

"Not unless you want him to." Groucho replied with a leer and a wiggle of his eyebrows.

"Oh crap.." Xander said. His voice was subdued as he recalled the vision Shemp had shown him. "So Jack, he's the guy from the vision mini-me had. And he's friends with Loki. Who is a Rosewell grey. And you want him to introduce us."

"Yeah. And wait till you get to blow the blonde's mind. She won't want to accept magic is real. Have fun with her." Shemp was grinning.

"Anything else you want to tell me about the future?" Asked Xander.

"Nah that's what divination is for. Have one of the witches try that. It's more fun that way." Shemp said. "Now agent 69" Suddenly the Chief from 'Get Smart' was talking. "Time to get up and get going. You have your powers.."

"Powers what powers?" Xander quickly broke in.

Q was back. "I told you Monkey Boy you're half white lighter. You have the powers a half whitelighter would have. A form of Orbing some healing a little of this a little of that. Although technically when the other one left he was an Elder so you might be called a half Elder. Guess you'll just have to see. "

Q disappeared and the Sheriff of Rottingham was talking to him, "It's not about the size of the power it's how you use it. ...Just don't use spells for personal gain. That is important. I wrote it down somewhere."

Suddenly Princess Leia was standing in front of him in the white gown, her hair in buns. "Good Luck 're are my only hope. And may the Force be with you."

Buffy and Giles had just gotten back from going over to the magic shop. Giles had entered the house first. He was carrying a white box. The kind folders and legal papers would be stored in.

"Buffy, Xander specifically said not to break anything just to test the repairs." Giles was saying.

Buffy was upset about something. "Seriously Giles. It wasn't my fault." She said slamming the front door.

Xander had been lying on the couch. Faith was asleep with his head in her lap. The slamming door jerked Faith awake and startled a now wide awake Xander. Unfortunately a startled whitelighter, new to their powers, is not in control of those powers. Xander orbed. Where the other Xander had a blueish white color to his orbing. Xander was a deep blue. He orbed off of Faith lap and over the coffee table. He rematerialized a foot in the air, over the table. And crashed onto the table. Breaking the table.

"Holy Fuck Boytoy. What the Fuck just happened." Faith was on her feet staring at him in shock.

That's a wrap on this part. Whitelighter Xander has left the building.

However I believe it best to keep the main story going here. I already have the first part of Orak Ha'taaka written. And may have a beta who will start helping me out. And hey if you literally translate that right and leave your Jaffa name in a review. I will be happy to have you killed in that story. (Offer valid for probably first 10 people or so who get it right. But if I can't fit the name in I can always kill you later.)

And SG1 has gotten their orders.

Also Quenten will probably be making a cameo. Guys an ass though.

Yes we are now left with the following

Giles - Witch Patriarch of line Giles - Powers?

Tara - Witch of line Giles-Warren Powers Telekinesis, Aura sight ?

Joyce Witch - Matriarch line Summers - Powers?

Willow - Witch - Line Rosenburg - No book yet. - Powers Telekinesis ?

Faith - Slayer, Protector, Witch - Daughter of Winter - Who is her Father?

Buffy - Slayer, Protector, Witch - Daughter of Summer

Xander - Nexus of Chaos - Half Whitelighter or Half Elder. - Powers Orbing? Healing? Spell casting?


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Thank you to Asoloth for the recommendation.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 13

"Holy fuck, Boytoy. What the fuck just happened?" Faith was on her feet staring at him in shock.

Giles dropped the box he was carrying. "Dear God."

Buffy looked stunned. "He orbed Giles! He orbed! Isn't that like really bad? Earth will be destroyed bad?"

Joyce, Willow and Tara came from in kitchen. They saw Xander on the floor, a broken coffee table below him, and everyone looking stunned.

Xander picked himself up. He had several cuts that were bleeding. Joyce ran back into the kitchen to get a cloth and some bandages.

Seeing Xander hurt, Faith moved to help him. He gingerly sat down on the couch. The shattered coffee table became hazy and turned to smoke. The smoke reformed as the pristine coffee table.

"Hey why did it do that for Xander? And the dummy didn't do it for me at the Magic Box?" Buffy asked.

"Buffy, now might not be the time." Giles said. "Xander, are you alright? What happened? How did this happen?"

Joyce, who was back with the cloth and bandages, began to clean his cuts. She gasped as she wiped away the blood: the skin was already healed. "How?"

"Wow Boytoy, that's better healing than a slayer!" Faith said.

"But I thought Xander couldn't get any powers." Willow added.

"Maybe we need to let Xander talk." Tara calmly said.

Everyone looked at Xander. "Ah well yeah. Surprise!?" The surprise sounded rather lame. Xander didn't know where to start. "Uhm yeah when me and mini-me joined, I was sort of out of it and thought I was having a really good dream. I was in Captain Picard's ready room."

"Oh, which version of Enterprise was it?" Willow asked. Buffy, Faith and even Tara looked at her in shock. "Sorry, I'll just sit over here." She sat down. Tara sat next to her holding her hand. Everyone else quickly realized it would be a good idea to sit. Chairs were brought from the kitchen.

Once everyone was seated. Xander continued. "I was in the captain's ready room. And the door opened and Q walked in." Willow drew in a sharp breath, but held back her interruption.

'Am I to infer from Willow's reaction that this 'Q' is not a good sign?" Giles asked. Personally, he had heard the name Q and thought of James Bond. But he listened.

Willow shook her head. "Q's an alien and has like god like powers and he's always testing the crew of the Enterprise and he can do anything with a snap of his fingers." She said in one breath.

"Yeah, I was, ah, shaken up, let's say, when I saw him." Xander said. "In fact, I was really, ah, shaken up. So Q turned into Shemp." Seeing the same look on most of the faces-It screamed 'WHO?'- "From the Stooges?" A sort of comprehension came over everyone's face.

"Anyway Shemp said he wasn't going to hurt me and gave me a twinkie." Everyone who knew Xander laughed at that. "So I said 'I'm dreaming, right?' He said no that this was some kind of a mystical vision. And I said 'Great Zeus' and he went off about how Zeus was just a big pervert."

"Yo, that true, Giles?" Faith asked.

"Ah, well, yes, if you look at the stories of Zeus's conquests I suppose one could come to that conclusion." Giles replied. He thought to himself. 'Perhaps I can purchase a pair of glasses without any prescription.'

"Yeah I didn't know what to say to that either. And then Shemp says he had some information he wanted to share with me. He said he already had shared information, with Giles, um I mean Dad and Mrs. Summers." Xander said.

"Good Lord." Giles exclaimed. "We need to know everything about this vision, Xander. Every detail is important."

'Rupert, what's wrong?" Joyce asked.

"When Buffy and I arrived at the Magic Box. I found a crystal almost identical to the one you found here. I also found this box sitting next to it. Inside I found a pile of stones similar to what you have here and three folders Titled 'Rupert', 'Xander' and 'Tara'. I thought it prudent to bring this back here to examine. If I have this it is probable that you have a similar box."

"So should we look for the box or let Xander finish?" Willow asked.

"If there is another box, I am sure it will still be here after Xander is done." Joyce said.

"So he showed me what happened to Mini-me, talking to the Lady Ganos Lal. And then mini-me talked with Shemp. And Shemp was the one who sort of tricked him into not creating any more whitelighters."

"What? But would that mean Shemp is evil. Because angels are good and if he had to trick him wouldn't we be better off with more angels?" Willow babbled.

"Willow, stop." Xander said. "Let me explain. After he showed me their talk, he asked me if I could tell him where he wasn't honest with mini-me. I told him I hate pop quizzes. And he just said life is a pop quiz."

"So I thought about it. And said the other me asked him 'So most of the Earth's population would die?' But Shemp never answered. Shemp was really happy that I spotted it. He asked me if I wanted to know the answer, or the question the other guy should have asked." Xander paused. "I really wanted both but when I asked him he said one or the other. I had to choose."

"So which did you choose, Xander?" Buffy asked. When Giles looked at her for interrupting she said, "What, like you don't want to know?"

"I thought about which answer I wanted to know. And I realized that he was Q. So I knew what to ask."

"Oh.. Oh.. Because the test is never over. Right?" Willow couldn't help herself.

"Yeah. I knew that to Q the answer wasn't as big a deal as the question. So I asked what the question should have been. He said the question should have been. 'How many would die as a direct result of my creating whitelighters?' And then he said he wouldn't have answered Mini-me anyway. But he would answer me."

"What? Why? Ain't that the same question?" Faith asked.

"Not according to Shemp. But he said he would tell me the answer. I said I didn't care because other me left without creating any whitelighters. And then he said that wasn't true that mini-me had created one whitelighter...Kinda. And I really didn't get what he was saying. But he said that if you take a human and a whitelighter and combine them, that since the whitelighter wasn't human, you would get a sort of half whitelighter. And I was still confused. But then he said if the human was also a Nexus of Chaos… and then I got it."

"Oh my. Yes, I think I understand." Giles said. "Since we used the Ferula-Gemina on you both it recombined you into one person. With the traits of both of you."

"Yeah, he said I had some of the powers but they would be different." Xander paused. "He really didn't explain that. And then he said I was my own species and handed me a balloon."

"What?" Willow and Buffy cried.

Joyce thought for a moment and then started to laugh.

"What's so funny Mom? Xander's saying he's not human anymore." Buffy said.

"Hey, I'm human still. Well half of me is." Xander pouted.

'It's cool Boytoy. I'm still keeping you." Faith pulled him to her, and kissed him.

"Xander, did the balloon say 'It's a Boy'?" Joyce asked.

"Yeah! How did you know that?" Xander asked. Everyone else looked amazed at Joyce's guess.

"It just made sense. It's what you bring when a baby is born." Joyce replied. Everyone nodded that made a lot of sense.

"Well I was really freaked out, because I thought I would cause the Earth to be destroyed. But he explained how he tricked mini-me. Mini-me just assumed when he said four to five billion human will die on Earth that he meant because other me created whitelighters. Shemp said that he was sure in the next fifty to seventy five years, four to five billion human will die on Earth."

"I don't get it. Isn't that the same thing?" Buffy asked.

"No, because he never said it would be a direct result of whitelighters. Right?" Tara said.

"Oh because people would die of natural causes or accidents and since most people only live to seventy or eighty in the fifty to seventy five year time everyone on earth would probably have died,..Oh, that's sneaky." Willow added.

"And then it got really weird." Everyone looked at Xander. How could that have gotten any weirder? "He said that he had used me. He had pulled a lot of power from me to tie up loose ends. And he gave me a couple of messages for Faith."

"Huh, messages for me?" Faith asked.

"Yeah he said to tell you that the professor knew it wasn't your fault. And that he was cool with it."

"Cool with what me killing him?" Faith asked. She couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"He didn't explain. He just said that your new Dad would understand you better. And that he was owed one too." Xander finished.

"Does anyone understand this?" Joyce asked. "And how does Faith have a new Father?"

"Many times in encounters with God like beings they will say very cryptic things that only make sense after the fact." Giles explained. "Please continue, Xander."

"Well he said I was still a Nexus and would be till I died, but after all that had happened I would be low on power for a while. But he said he was rooting for me, and he suddenly had like a foam finger, and t-shirt, and beer ball hat. They said 'Xanders #1' and 'Team Xander' and "Xander's our Man'. "

Faith laughed "Was this guy, like, Bugs Bunny or something?"

"No, if I had to guess I would say he is some sort of Chaos deity. The fact that he would 'root' for a Nexus of Chaos makes that point rather clear." Giles replied.

"So I asked him what he thought I should do. And he said he would love for me to play around with spells."

"XANDER, but the other Xander, he said as a Nexus you should never, ever play around with spells" Willow yelled.

"Yeah, he looked like Gomez Addams when he said that. So I don't think it's a good idea. But then he said I should get some new friends."

"What?" Again from Willow. "No" Came Buffy's cry.

"Yeah I had the same reaction. But he said he hadn't meant get rid of my old friends but make some knew ones. And then he said Dad and I could hang out with Ethan Rayne."

"Bugger THAT!" Giles exclaimed.

"Rupert!" Joyce reproached him.

"Ah, yes, my apologies, Joyce. I simply was shocked to hear that." Giles said.

"Yeah I felt the same. But then he said if I didn't want to hang out with Ethan, that I should hang out with some guy named Jack. He said Jack and I would get along great, and that we had the same sense of humor." Giles, Buffy and Willow all groaned at that statement. "Hey!" Xander exclaimed.

Faith looked at him. "Boytoy, even I know you're sense of humor is weird!" Everyone laughed at that.

Except Xander, who continued "I say again 'HEY'." He smirked. "Shemp also said that once Jack knew Whistler and the Powers killed his son..." Everyone gasped at that.

"That poor man." Joyce said.

"Yeah, Shemp said onceJack found out he wouldn't stop till they were toast. And then he said that I should have Jack introduced me to Loki."

"Joyce. could I trouble you for something to drink? Whisky or Scotch if you have it?" Giles asked. After all of these revelations he needed a drink.

"Like Loki the evil God from the comics?" Faith asked at the same time as Giles was speaking. At the surprised looks from Buffy, Tara and Willow. She said,"What? Comics are cool. I used to read 'em all the time."

Xander stared at her. And for the first time he reached over and kissed her. When he broke the kiss Faith was blushing.

"Rupert, if you'll tell me why you feel the need for a drink, I've got some Scotch." Joyce said. "And Xander, we will be talking about your intentions towards my daughter." Xander just grinned.

"Loki is the Asgardian God of Mischief. Contrary to your comics he was not evil, but you had to be very careful of him. And it seems whatever deity has taken an interest in Xander is most definitely aligned with Chaos. So if you don't mind I really would like that drink." Giles explained.

Joyce nodded. "I think I will join you. Buffy, please come help me grab some soda for everyone else." Buffy and Joyce went to the kitchen and quickly returned.

Once everyone had their drinks, Xander continued. "So I was all over the evil god thing too, because I've read the comic. But Shemp, he said I had the wrong Asgard, and he showed me a picture of Loki. Loki is a Roswell grey."

"Really?" Willow asked. Joyce looked stunned. Tara looked startled. Having lived in New Mexico she knew about Roswell.

"Yeah really. Shemp said he's really lonely and would love to be friends. And that Jack could introduce us. He also said that one of Jack's friends, a really hot blonde, wouldn't want to believe in magic and that I should have fun with blowing her mind."

Faith grabbed him and pulled him over. "A really hot blonde?"

"Ah yeah Ah…" Was all Xander could get out.

Faith pulled him even closer and whispered, "No really hot blonde for you. Unless we share."

Xander's brain froze. "What did you say to him, Faith?" Buffy asked. "You shouldn't threaten him like that, he's just a guy. They all do that."

"Buffy," Willow called out. "That's not Xander's 'I've been threatened face'. That's his, 'Brain frozen from sex thoughts' face."

"What?" Buffy exclaimed. "Faith!" Faith just leaned back. She radiated self confidence and was not at all ashamed of herself. Buffy slapped Xander's head. "Hey more story time!"

"Oh yeah," Xander said. "Anyway next I asked Shemp about what else he wanted to tell me about the future. He said that was boring. If I wanted to know that to have one of you witches do some divining. And then he was the Chief from 'Get Smart', but the original one, not the crappy movie one. And he started talking about how I had my powers, and I needed to get going. But I stopped him because he hadn't told me about any powers."

"Then he was Q again and said, I could orb, sort of. And heal, and he said 'little of this little of that' which really did not explain anything. And he said technically I might be a half Elder." Giles dropped his glass. Luckily he had just finished his drink.

"Half Elder?" Giles asked. Xander shook his head yes. "Joyce I think we may need the bottle. I just found out my son may be a demigod."

Joyce got up and brought back the bottle. Everyone else was looking stunned.

"Hey no, no demigod here. Just Xander, OK." Xander protested.

Willow laughed. Everyone looked at her. "Xander, when someone asks if you are a demigod...You say yes." She broke down laughing. Slowly the tension lifted.

"Yeah so then I was talking with the Sheriff of Rottingham."

"Sheriff of what? There is no Rottingham in England." Giles protested.

"Giles, it's from the movie Robin Hood: Men in Tights." Tara of all people explained. "By Mel Brooks."

Seeing Giles' face, Xander said, "Don't worry Dad. We'll watch it together." Giles opened his mouth to protest. Xander continued. "Since this was part of a vision it may be crucial that you watch it." Giles closed his mouth. Whilst he did not have any desire to watch the movie, he knew when dealing with some kind of a Trickster or Chaos god every little detail could be crucial.

"So the Sheriff tells me, in that voice he used in the movie. 'It's not about the size of the power it's how you use it. ...Just don't use spells for personal gain. That is important. I wrote it down somewhere.' I mean he had the voice changes really down." Xander laughed.

"Than princess Leia showed up, and said good luck, and I was her only hope. Then I woke up here. And, well, you know the rest."

"What, no 'may the Force be with you'?" Giles asked. The kids looked at him. Joyce just snickered. "I'm older than you. It does not mean I live in a cave. I quite liked Star Wars when it came out."

"Wow, my Dad likes Star Wars." Tara said in a soft voice. When she noticed that everyone had heard her. She blushed.

"No, she said it. Just didn't seem important to add." Xander said.

"Well, yes, I think it would be important for you to write as much down as you can possibly remember, Xander. The we can try to look for clues and hidden meanings."

"Home work? Ah that sucks." Xander pouted.

"Hey, Boytoy, want some help with your homework?" Faith asked with an innocent smile. Unfortunately her smile fooled no one. Least of all Joyce.

"Faith we are going to sit down and talk. You, me and Xander, before anything else." Joyce said.

Faith looked stunned. She hadn't counted on this. She ducked her head and said. "Sure, Mom."

Tara asked, "Dad, what about the box. You said it had things for each of us."

Giles looked up. "Right. Before we start, Joyce, have you found a similar box?"

Joyce shook her head. "No, but I haven't looked yet. I suggest we look for the box first. Then if we find something, we can all look at it together. Buffy, please check upstairs. Xander, would you check the basement? I'll look in the closets here."

Faith went with Xander, while Willow and Buffy went upstairs. Giles and Tara started looking with Joyce. Almost as soon as they opened the door to the basement, Xander stopped. "Mrs. Summers?" He called her over.

Looking over at Xander she said. "Yes, Xander?"

"When did you finish up your basement?" Xander asked.

"What? The basement is unfinished. I've never had the money. Or the need to finish it." Joyce replied.

Just then Buffy ran down the stairs. "Mom, you have to come see upstairs. You're not going to believe this." Joyce looked between Buffy and Xander, not sure what to do first.

Giles spoke up. "Since we seem to be receiving miracles, might I suggest that instead of splitting up, we all explore together?"

Everyone agreed. They started in the basement. What was originally an unfinished basement with the washer and dryer installed had been transformed. There were two bedrooms along the backwall. They shared a full bathroom between them. A large common area with couches and tables that would be perfect for research. And one entire wall was covered with book shelves. They were empty right now, but there was space to put a large library there. There was also a projector hanging from the ceiling. Further investigation showed that it would act as a T.V. or movie projector. It could even be used to project images from a desk.

"Wow, I think I might want to move back home, Mom." Buffy said. Everyone laughed at that.

Moving up to the main floor, no one noticed any extra rooms. But they did notice the freshly painted walls and that the entire house seemed off. I was Xander who figured it out. "You've got about four feet extra over all on the width of the house and I'd say ten feet on the depth."

"What does that mean, Boytoy?" Faith asked.

"The house is four feet wider going side to side. And ten feet longer from front to back." Xander replied.

Buffy, opening what had been a small closet pantry, called her Mom over. "Mom, look! You now have a walk-in pantry."

Upstairs everything seemed almost the same. Everything was not new but refreshed. The extra space was in the small linen closet. It was now larger and opened onto another set of stairs. The stairs went up.

"Mom, we didn't have an attic before, right?" Buffy said as she reached the top of the stairs.

"No Buffy, we had a crawl space." As Joyce reached the top of the stairs she saw the attic, now as large and easily equal to downstairs. One side of the room had a large circular stained glass window. In the center was an Angel. There was a book stand that was occupied by a white legal box, just like the one Giles had brought back from the Magic Box. The stand looked just like the ones in the library of the Elders. On the other side of the space were rows of weapons. Swords, axes, staves, daggers and crossbows.

Once again the sound of 'squee' was heard. But when everyone turned to look only Faith was standing there. She denied making the sound.

"Look, there is space where we can have weapons practice and practice dummies." Faith pointed to the area in front of the weapons. It was padded. And it looked perfect. One door off to the side also revealed a shower and toilet. "It's perfect." Faith proclaimed.

The final wall of the attic had a small sink and tubed bunsen burners, a large cauldron, and a small fireplace.

"I dare say this is for brewing potions." Giles said.

"How did Xander do this?" Joyce asked.

Xander replied, "He didn't." Everyone looked at him. "I told you all earlier didn't I?"

"Told us what, Xander?" Joyce asked.

"What Shemp told mini-me," Xander paused trying to remember exactly what he had heard.

Then he quoted "In all the stories where gods visit mortals in disguise. It's the ones who don't ask for anything, but just do their best to be decent. They're the ones that get rewarded. And not with amazing powers, but just with simple things. Like this house, it's nice. It's a home. But it might be too small for the future. So for now, maybe it just needs some sprucing up." Xander finished quoting Shemp.

"He called this 'some sprucing up!" Joyce exclaimed.

"Well, Joyce, I believe he is a God of some kind, so, yes, this might be 'some sprucing up'." Giles said. "If I might make a suggestion, let's take the boxes down to the basement. From there we can examine the contents." Buffy reached the box first, mainly because she was closest. Picking it up, she stuck her tongue out at Faith. Faith just grumbled.

It was early morning in England. Quentin Travers awoke to the sound of his phone ringing. Opening his eyes, he took his bearings. Finding the phone he answered, "There had better be an excellent reason to be calling me at this hour."

He heard the voice of one of his council assistance, Wellsby? Wellbery? It really didn't matter. What mattered was the news he gave him. In many ways it was worrying. Something had happened in the last twenty four hours. Something had happened in Sunnydale.

"I want a response team sent to Sunnydale immediately. They are to determine what killed the slayers. Find out if any of the 'Friends' survived. If necessary capture the 'Friends' to determine what happened.

Quentin paused. "Which of the two slayers is closest to Sunnydale?"

After listening he said, "Good. Send Slayer Kennedy to Sunnydale with her watcher. She will probably arrive before the response team. I want them to check out the local demon and vampire population. See what they can uncover. Her watcher will be informed of the response team's presence. The slayer is not to be told."

Quentin hung up. He felt very pleased. All would be right with the world again. Once more the slayer - No, he corrected himself - the slayerS were Council-trained. They would obey the orders they received. No longer would the fate of the world lie with the two American tarts.

He smiled. To himself he considered it a small grin. To anyone else it was the look of a megalomaniac gloating. "That presumptuous American tart is dead," he said aloud. Never again would he have to deal with Buffy Summers. Today was looking to be a banner day!

Alright I admit this was fun but in some ways a filler. Yes the team is being set up and provided resources that they can use. And a degree of comfort they have never imagined. My only words of warning would be "Nothing in Life is Free."

For the Kennedy haters of which I may be sort of one. Lets just say stay tuned. Lots of things can go wrong when you're an idiot in Sunnydale. Still I think she may find her first boyfriend.


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 14

On the way down to the basement, Giles was thinking. All the information that Xander had given them... He thought about what this "Shemp" had told Xander. He was worried. Passing through the main floor of the house he spotted the bottle of scotch that Joyce had opened earlier. While the others headed down he grabbed the bottle and two more glasses. He hoped he would not need a drink soon.

Reaching the basement he saw that everyone had found a place to sit. Joyce and Buffy were together on the large couch with Xander and Faith. Willow and Tara sat together on a smaller couch. The boxes were on the large table near the couches. Going to the box he had brought from the Magic Box Giles opened it.

"I believe it might be best if we begin examining these one by one," Gles said. Everyone reluctantly nodded their heads. Opening the folder marked 'Giles', Giles was perplexed. Spreading the contents onto the table they began to sift through it.

"Giles, I don't get it. What is the point of this stuff?" Buffy asked. It was easy to see that everyone had the same question.

"Buffy, I honestly don't know. We have old photo's here. We have random papers. We just need to look through them to try and figure out what they mean."

Faith, who had picked up one of the old photos, looked at it then gave a low wolf whistle. This brought everyone's attention to her. She grinned. "What? Check it out. Giles was hot when he was younger."

Joyce said in a soft voice that only slayer hearing could pick up, "He's still hot." Buffy looked like she wanted to say something but the word "stevedore" came to her mind and eeew. Faith just smirked.

Faith passed the photo to Xander first because he was closest. He looked at it for a second. "Hey G-man?"

"Yes junior g-man?" Giles shot back.

Xander looked shocked. G-man was fun, but also could be counted on to throw Giles a little off. And Giles had just one-upped him. "Good one, Dad. But why is there a picture of you and my Mom together? From when you were younger?"

Giles, who had been looking at several notices of upcoming auctions that were in the box, put them down. He picked up the photo. He had never seen it before. In the photo Giles was holding a young Jessica Harris very close. It was the type of photo you would take as boyfriend and girlfriend. The back of the photo read, 'Ripper and Jess at Ethan's.' "I've never seen this before. And I know I never dated your mother. We need to try to understand what is here."

"But this is all jumbly," Buffy complained. "I mean you have old photos, and weird painting that looks way too old timey for Mom to have in her gallery. And brochures. And even papers that say United States Government at the top."

Joyce's ears had locked onto 'weird painting' and 'old timey'. "Buffy, let me see the painting, please." Buffy handed her a rolled up canvas that was too big to have safely been stored in the box. Joyce, once she felt the canvas, was very careful as she unrolled it. Her sharp gasp of surprise brought Giles to her side. "Oh my God!" She exclaimed, "This can not be real?"

Now she had everyone's undivided attention, "This looks like ' _Jupiter and Mercurius in the House of Philemon and Baucis',_ but it can't be."

"Why can't it be? And who are all the weird namey people?" Buffy asked.

"It can't be because this painting was destroyed during World War Two. The Nazi's had looted it. Or it was thought to have been destroyed. And it can't be that because if it was the real thing, than I would be holding a Rubens in my hands."

"Like the sandwich?" Xander asked. Joyce actually looked at him in disappointment. "What? I'm sort of hungry."

"Joyce, this could possibly be the painting. But I am more intrigued about the subject. The story is a moral myth on how to treat guests." Seeing the blank looks on, well, all of the children's faces, he said, "I will find the story for you all to read. However the summation is: always treat your guests to the best you have to offer. You never know when they will turn out to be gods in disguise."

"This is really jumbled. Why is there a paper about an upcoming IRS Auction? And it has a address here in Sunnydale circled," Tara said.

"Ok, what's the address?" Xander asked. When Tara read the address aloud Xander had only one response. "Cordy's going to kill us." Willow nodded her head agreeing.

Tara had a look of puzzlement on her face. Joyce, Giles and Faith, who while they had known Cordelia, were not familiar with the situation, looked puzzled as well. "It's Cordy's old address. The Chase Mansion," Willow explained. Faith and Joyce nodded knowingly and Willow told Tara, "I'll explain later."

"So what are the forms for?" Giles asked Willow. She had picked them up to examine.

"It looks like the first ones were filed last week. They were to amend the birth certificates of Alexander Harris to change his last name to reflect his biological father's name of Rupert Giles."

What and How seemed to be the majority of the cries. Xander jumped up. He pumped his fist in the air and said, "Yes! Not a Harris! Screw you, Tony!"

"Giles, according to this your attorney presented evidence that Xander and Tara were your biological children. This was what allowed them to have the birth certificates amended."

"But my Mom is still my Mom, right?" Tara asked.

"Yeah, says right here Temperance Warren and Rupert Giles are the parents of Tolerance Tara Giles."

Tolerance? was the universal thought. "And I thought Lavelle was bad. Hey, it is still Lavelle, right, Willow?" Xander knew better than to hope it wasn't.

Willow looked through the papers. "Yeah, says so right here: Jessica Rayne and Rupert Giles."

Giles had been studying the photo of himself, the girl Jess, and Ethan. He wasn't sure why this was there. But knew it must contain a clue. When Willow said Xander's mother's maiden name he exclaimed 'Bloody Buggering Bollocks!'

"Rupert!" Joyce said. "Really! What's wrong?"

Giles poured himself a drink before answering. He quickly downed the first drink then poured a second. "This photo has written on the back, 'Ripper and Jess at Ethan's'. And Willow just stated that Xander's Mother is Jessica Rayne."

Xander felt his face fall. "Ah crap!" Everyone looked at him. "In the vision when Shemp said to me my Dad and UNCLE Ethan should hang out, I thought he was just joking you know. Ha Ha, ah crap."

"Xander, I believe you left that out earlier. I really must insist that tomorrow you sit down and write everything out. The smallest detail could be an important clue," Giles finished admonishing Xander.

"So evil chaos mage is Xander's Uncle?" Buffy asked.

"Whilst I wouldn't call Ethan...Evil...Perhaps more misguided, thoughtless, reckless, uncaring, infuriating, insufferable prat at times. But not evil. He..just never examines the repercussions of his actions," Giles said.

"But my mom isn't English. How can she and chaos guy be brother and sister?" Xander said.

"Well maybe she's like his half sister of something?" Willow said. "Or maybe the names are just a coincidence?" No one believed that.

"What about the other papers?" Buffy asked, changing the subject.

"It's an application for Giles to have dual citizenship based on the fact that two of his children are US citizens," Tara said.

'Why would that be in there? I mean it's not like Giles is going to get kicked out of the country," Buffy said.

"Buffy!" Willow called out. "You didn't!"

"What?" Buffy asked.

"You just taunted Murphy, Buffy," Xander said. "Now Giles better file those papers or something will happen."

'Yes perhaps I will look that over later. Is there anything else that looks particularly important?" Giles asked. "Than I suggest we open the other folders."

Xander's folder contained documents, birth certificate, Social security card, and a few photos. One brought a tear to his eye: it was Jesse and him together, just hanging out, laughing about something. He knew he hadn't had a photo of that day before. It had been just another day with his best friend and brother. Xander hadn't know it would be one of Jesse's last days.

Tara's box was identical, only the photo she found was her mother holding her as a newborn, smiling happily. Then there was one more of an older Temperance. She still looked good: strong, as if she wouldn't let anything keep her down. The photo hadn't existed. It was Temperance hugging her daughter right after she had come out to her.

The other items from Giles' box were being gathered, with Joyce very carefully storing the painting. "If it's real it's a priceless lost work. If it's not then it is still an extraordinary forgery. Until we know which I don't want anyone near it."

Joyce grabbed the other box. Opening it she pulled the first folder out. The contents made everyone scratch their heads. Legal paper. Lots of legal papers. Pulling one of the papers out Joyce started to read. The others all grabbed papers. After ten minutes of reading and exchanging papers, Joyce asked, "Why do we have a bunch of NDA's (Non-Disclosure Agreements) with all of our names and signatures, saying we agree to the terms of some agreement I've never read?"

Giles looked at her, poured her a drink, and handed it to Joyce. "Welcome to the club. The agreement that is referred to could be in any of these things. Let's try to see if we can find."

Faith grabbed her own folder. It had the same basic paperwork as Xander's and Tara's had. There was only one photo, from when she turned fourteen. Before she had become a slayer. It was the first birthday she could recall that didn't suck. Her and DD were smiling and eating cake.

Willow was speed-reading through everything she could grab. She suddenly let out a cry of "Oh, oh, I think I found it! The reason we all have NDA's! It's right here, but it's sort of bad." Looking over the papers, she said, "Mrs. Summers, it says a Government project stole some of your eggs to use in an experiment."

"What?" Joyce said in shock. Looking at her glass, which she had only sipped, she downed it, turned to Giles and indicated he should pour some more. "The Government did what to me?"

"They stole some of your eggs. And Faith's biological father's sperm too. Then used them in an experiment, to try and create like super people ooooh and that's like so bad because that's eugenics like what the nazis did not that I'm saying you or Faith or Faith's dad are Nazis but that is still eeew" Willow babbled. "And it says here they thought the experiment failed because it only produced girls and boys died before they were born. Over two hundred girls were born."

Giles grabbed some of the other papers. He knew it would take Willow a while to wind down. Reading through he said, "Oh my!" This brought Willow up short and everyone turned to Giles.

"According to these papers, Faith was cleared of any wrongdoing in the deaths of Alan Finch and Professor John Stevens," Giles read. "It claims they were attempting to kill her to cover up their own involvement in "Project Achilles". It was ruled self defense, and a sealed presidential pardon was issued for any other crimes she may have committed whilst keeping herself alive."

"What the fuck? That ain't what happened," Faith yelled.

Joyce came over to her. "Faith it's ok. We know you weren't yourself. This just means that no one can come after you for what you were forced to do."

"Yah, but, ok, the Deputy Mayor was evil. But the professor, he didn't deserve to be killed," Faith replied.

"Xander's message," Tara said. Everyone looked at her 'What?' "From Shemp. Xander said he said that the professor was cool with it."

"So this guy I killed was ok with me killing him and then everyone thinking he was some evil criminal?" Faith asked in disbelief.

"Whilst I understand it is hard to understand, I doubt this Shemp was lying to Xander. He seems to be a trickster or chaos deity. They rarely lie. Misdirect, fool and prevaricate, yes, but they don't lie," Giles explained.

"What else does it say, Willow?" Joyce asked. Willow kept going through the papers.

"The project was called Achilles and they used fertility clinics to implant the embryos." Everyone made the connection between the two names. They recorded over two hundred little girls born. But the project was stopped because no boys were able to be born." Willow started to hyperventilate.

Tara grabbed her and held her for a moment."Honey calm down. What's wrong."

Willow calmed herself. "No boys. Giles what if they were creating potentials? But didn't know it, because only girls can be slayers. And maybe being a potential is genetic not mystical. Because only certain girls right? That's why there were no boys born!" The last part came out at just below the speed of babble.

"Dear Lord! But it wouldn't do them any real good. There is only one slayer at a time. Well, before Xander brought Buffy back. Whilst it may be related, I can't see where it will have any meaning right now." Giles stopped himself before he added, it could help to identify a future slayer. Since that would only happen if Buffy or Faith died.

"What else does it say, Willow?" Joyce asked.

"It says Faith's dad is like a big time soldier. He has a ton of medals and things. But I guess he didn't have all of those back then. And his name is Colonel Jonathan Jack O'Neill. Oh, but it says we had to agree to never contact him, because he doesn't know about Faith." Willow turned the page. "Oh, but if he contacts Faith or Mrs. Summers we can tell him everything." Willow brightened up at the last part.

Faith snorted, "Yeah right! What are the chances? He's just going to knock on the door and say "Hi I'm your Dad.""

Buffy spoke up first, "I've got five bucks on one week."

"Nah I want three days and I'll put in ten," Xander replied.

"Five days and I'll add ten too," Tara replied.

Faith was looking at them like they were crazy. "What the hell are you doing?"

"You challenged Murphy," Willow explained. "No way it's not happening now. I want the next forty eight hours and I'll put in ten."

"Hey I called three days!" Xander protested.

"Yeah, so Tara has five days. If he shows up days three or four you win. Tara has five and six. Buffy after that," Willow replied. Xander found the logic hard to argue against even though he had really wanted days one through three.

Faith was sitting quietly. She was scared that everyone was right. She had taunted Murphy. Joyce looked at her and asked, "Faith what's wrong? They're just joking with you."

Faith didn't answer right away. "Before all this. I know, I don't know, I, he's going to hate me. When he knows what I did."

Xander held her from the other side. "No he won't. Remember what I told you about Shemp's messages to you. He said this was the Dad you needed. And he said, Whoever this guy is he was owed one. Must be a big one too. Because he got you."

Faith looked down. "But what if he was owed something really bad happening to him and that's why he got me?"

Joyce pulled her into a hug, "Honey no one on Heaven, or Earth could ever think that you coming into their life was a bad thing."

The gang spent the rest of the night looking through the files. Reading everything. A few moments stood out. When Faith was reading about her dad, she found the notes about the agreement not to tell him. It said that Kinsey wouldn't sign off on the deal unless that was added. The stated reason was the Col. O'Neill was too vital to handle the distraction.

"Who's this Kinsey guy and why's he such a dick?" Faith asked. When everyone read it, they couldn't think of an answer.

"Maybe we can ask your Dad. When he gets here," Joyce said with a smile.

Giles pulled Xander to the side. He explained how his parents had said they were kicking him out. Xander had shaken his head and said, "That happens pretty often."

Giles was shocked to hear that. "Well it stops now. Tomorrow you will get your things from that house. Right now I only have a spare room at my flat. But you're my son and it's yours. Once we see about getting a few of these diamonds exchanged then we can move into something bigger. Although why this Shemp would want us to buy the Chase Mansion is beyond me."

During the following hours the scoobies also decided what to tell anyone who questioned their new family connections. Because they knew that there would be questions. After hours of discussions and plans, finally Joyce called it a night. Giles took one of the rooms downstairs. She was in her room, and everyone else slept together on the couches.

Joyce called Xander and Faith up to her room shortly after everyone was up and had eaten. She started out, "Xander, Faith I just want to talk to you about what has been happening with you both. Your relationship seems so sudden, and I'm worried that you're moving too fast."

Xander looked at Faith. Then turning to Joyce he said, "It maybe is in a way. But I felt something for Faith when we were just friends. When everything happened and we thought Faith had gone bad, I didn't know what to do. So even when she was in the hospital I visited her. Then mini-me showed up, and he showed me what we could have. Well I want that, more than anything."

Faith nodded her head, "I'm keeping him. He's the best thing that ever happened to me. I know I've done a lot of bad things. Even if I know some of it was because of a spell, it still feels like I did them. Xander, he makes me feel like I'll be ok, no, Iike I'll be amazing, as long as he is here with me."

Joyce nodded, "I understand what you're both saying. But I'm talking about Sex."

"Ah Mrs. Summers we haven't ah since ah that one time. But ah we're not ah right now. Not that ah I wouldn't ah want to." Xander said incoherently.

"Xander, I know you haven't done anything yet. What I want is a promise from both of you. No sex for the next six months," Joyce said.

"What!" Cried out Faith. "No way, that's way too long. I mean, I wasn't planning on jumping him today. But soon maybe."

"Faith, Xander, I know you both have led lives that even magic couldn't erase. But everything's different now. You both have families that love you. I want you to enjoy that without the pressure sex can put on a relationship," Joyce said. "I want you to date and develop a solid friendship before you start having sex. Faith, yesterday, when Xander kissed you because you said you liked comics too, how did that feel?"

Faith smiled and just nodded her head. "Really good. Not all hot and sweaty good but so really good." Faith seemed to sober up. "But I still say six months is too long. I mean I screwed up the first time but I want to know what it's like to sleep with someone who actually cares about me. To wake up with them. Ya know. Not just the quick and done."

Xander was feeling very small right now. Joyce and Faith were going places he really didn't want to talk about. Well, not with Joyce. But he couldn't see any avenue of escape. He was starting to wish he were anywhere else. Like, say, the park. Yeah, it would be nice to be in the park.

Faith and Joyce were both shocked when Xander, who had been standing to the side and trying not to say anything that would get him killed, turned into a stream of blue lights and disappeared. Joyce stared at the place Xander had just vacated. She couldn't believe it.

"I guess boytoy really didn't want to be here," Faith said.

Joyce started laughing, "You're so right. But Faith, I really want your promise: no sex for six months."

Faith looked down then looked Joyce in the eyes, "Three months. I promise for three months. I don't think I could wait anymore than that."

Joyce nodded. "Three months." As Faith turned to leave Joyce added, "And Faith, I didn't say you couldn't sleep with him before the three months are up. Just no sex. But you might want to tell Xander that at some point. Or not."

Faith grinned and said, "Thanks, mom."

Xander reappeared in Wilkins Memorial Park. He floundered for a moment till he got his bearings. He grinned. Looking around he was relieved to see that no one was around. He thought to himself, ok how did I get here?

He thought about the entire situation. He realized he had been picturing the exact spot where he arrived. "Ok, step one: picture the place I want to be." After a minute he realized he really didn't want to be anywhere in particular. He especially didn't want to go back and talk to Joyce. He sat down on a nearby bench. He thought about Giles. "Man it's weird, half the time I'm calling him Dad in my head. The other half Giles."

"Still I wonder what he's doing right now. Probably in the Magic Box. Getting ready to open the store. I wonder if he'd have any ideas to help? Maybe I should ask him?" as his internal dialog was running he decided that was a good idea. "I'll head over to the Magic Box then."

It was hard to say who was more surprised, Giles or Xander, when Xander orbed into the Magic Box. After explaining to Giles what had happened both times he orbed, they spent the rest of the morning trying to figuring out how to trigger his orbing ability.

Faith showed up a few hours later. She had headed into the gallery with Joyce. Joyce was calling some contacts she knew to try and have the painting verified. Faith after hanging around for almost an hour was finally kicked out of the gallery by Joyce. "Go before you break something. I know this is boring for you. I'll stop by the Magic Box before heading home."

Seeing Giles and Xander working on something together, Faith called out, "Yo Boytoy. Don't think pulling out the blue lights is going to get you out of the Sex talk with Mom."

'Uhm Sex talk? I don't recall you mentioning a sex talk, Xander," Giles said. "You have to remember we are dealing with unknow magic. Every detail could be important. So please tell me about this Sex talk Joyce had with you." Inside, Ripper smiled. He had already figured out why a talk like that would upset Xander enough to orb, but this was too good an opportunity to pass up. Ripper was yelling something about payback being his bitch in Giles' head.

Xander started stammering, looking down at his feet, trying to say what had happened. Why oh why did this happen to him. He orbed again, finding himself in the backroom of the Magic Box. Out front he heard laughter. Faith and Giles were laughing. Coming out of the room he looked at them, "You guys suck!"

Faith looked him dead in the eye and stalked up to him. Grabbing him by the shirt and pulling him in close she whispered, "Only if you are very, very lucky."

Xander turned beet red and felt the need to adjust himself. Giles laughed even more.

The rest of the afternoon passed quickly. Tara and Willow arrived together after their classes had finished. A short time later Buffy and Riley arrived.

"I'm telling you, Buffy, Professor Walsh is going to want to know what happened," Riley was saying.

"Well we'll figure out what we can tell her then," Buffy replied, entering the store as Riley held the door for her.

Xander looked up from where he had been writing. He had a yellow legal pad of paper and was writing down everything he could remember about what had happened during his conversation with Shemp. Every character and word. He even had a separate pad where he was writing questions he wanted to ask‒that, and doodling.

"What's up Buffster? Hey, Riley," Xander called out.

Faith came from in back and seeing Buffy, smiled. "Hey sis, you up for getting your ass kicked?"

Buffy looked at Faith. "Oh I don't think I have to worry about that. But sure after we talk a little let's do it. Because you are so going down!"

Willow and Tara came in from the back room as well. After everyone had been brought up to speed, Riley had to explain the call he received yesterday, with the unknown HST in the street, and how he had arrived just to see them disappear in a bunch of lights. Then he explained that he had to report on not finding the demon and only finding signs of a fight and seeing weird lights to Professor Walsh. "Buffy, she ordered me to find out what happened. So if you guys would just tell me, I can tell her and we're good."

Everyone looked for a moment trying to think where to start? What to say? "It's complicated," Xander began with the others chiming in that yeah it was. "The demon was this thing calling itself a balance demon. Really powerful. But it specialized in mind control. So we have really jumbled up memories."

Faith didn't know who this guy that Buffy was hanging on was, but she trusted Xander. "Yeah, thing stole me and Boytoy out of the hospital. I think it was trying to get everyone."

Riley looked surprised. Who was this girl and why was she calling Harris "Boytoy"? "Ok, ah, who are you and why are you calling Harris 'Boytoy'?" Everyone laughed.

"Hey, happy to say I'm not a Harris. As of yesterday, I now have my real Dad's last name." Xander said with a smile.

"And I call him 'Boytoy' because he's my boytoy," Faith said sitting on Xander's lap and kissing him. Xander's arms encircled the girl's waist.

Riley was shocked. Last he knew, Harris–or whoever he was now–was going out with that Anya chick. Now he's with someone much hotter. "OK, and again who are you?"

Buffy answered, "Just ignore her, Riley. She's my little sister Faith."

"Who you calling little?" Faith said looking down at herself. "Don't think anything about me is little. Unlike some who are vertically challenged."

"Hey I'm not short. You are unreasonably tall, that's all," Buffy replied.

"Sister? Since when do you have a sister?" Riley asked. Now this was really confusing. But Xander had mentioned a demon that messed with memories.

"Faith was in a coma for the last six months, so we really didn't talk about her," Willow joined in. "And yesterday something happened with that demon that woke her up. We're just really glad she's back."

"Wait, coma? No way, I've seen people laid up and she wanted to spar with Buffy. No one can do that if they just got out of a coma," Riley argued.

Xander answered before anyone else, "Yeah, whatever the demon did had like mystical healing. So it fixed us all up when we defeated it. If not we'd be really hurt."

"So you're saying that this demon healed you all when you defeated it? That doesn't make any sense. What, you kill it and suddenly you're healed?" Riley's look of disbelief was plain to see.

Xander shrugged, "Magic, it's weird. But I'm not going to complain. I don't have any scars on me anymore, none of us do. Dad doesn't even need glasses now."

"Dad? Who's Dad?" Riley asked.

"My Dad," Xander answered. "Giles." He pointed to the man.

"Wait Mr. Giles is your Dad? Since when?" Riley asked. This was impossible.

"Ah since nine months before I was born?" Xander shot back. Man, Buffy doesn't pick em for their brains. "And yeah we finally got the paternity tests back proving he was our Dad and so had the name change done. Well, we didn't, the lawyer did all that."

"Wait we? Who else is his kid? Willow or …" Riley was cut off by Willow's giggle.

"Nope, I'm not his daughter. Sort of Daughter in law. If Tara and I could legally get married." Willow supplied.

'Wait, you're gay? But you had that boyfriend Oz? When did you become gay? And Tara is Mr. Giles daughter?" Riley was getting worried. This was not possible. Family did not change over night like this.

"Riley," Tara said. "Why do you think I spent so much time here? I was getting to know my real Dad. Willow and I just sort of happened, after Oz left."

"Oh. I guess that part makes sense. I mean I can see wanting to get to know your Dad," Riley replied. "But everything else? Xander? This Faith girl, who none of you ever mentioned. Guys, something's wrong with you."

Giles broke in. "I'm surprised at you Mr. Finn." His voice was heading towards Ripper. "You are supposedly studying human psychology, yet you are not aware that many times people avoid talking about subjects they find painful? We didn't talk about Faith for that very reason. Now we are simply happy to have her back."

Riley stopped. Giles had a point. "And Xander being your son? And you having a daughter? How does that work?"

"Really I would think that at your age you have had sex at least once," Ripper replied. Buffy was not sure whether to defend her boyfriend or get out of the way. "But it works like this: in my youth I was a bit of a ladies' man. I was not aware that Tara was my daughter and until recently. I couldn't prove Xander was my son either. But I moved to Sunnydale on the off chance that he was."

"Wait, I thought you moved to Sunnydale to help Buffy." Ah Ha, he had them now, thought Riley.

"Mr. Finn, I moved to Sunnydale before Buffy arrived here. It was our good fortune that I was here to assist her as at the time she had no watcher. But that was at best serendipity," Giles replied. "No, I had hopes to get to know Xander and find out the truth."

OK, Riley couldn't prove anything yet, but he knew he needed to be careful. Buffy was the slayer and could kick his and his squad's ass. "What about her?" He pointed to Faith. "Why does she think she can take Buffy in a fight? I can't even take Buffy in a fight. You going to tell me she's a slayer too?"

"Buffy I think you better tell your boyfriend to back off before I kick his ass," Faith said.

"What you think you could take me? You're just a little girl." Riley's mouth was starting to write checks he couldn't cover. "You want me to hand you your ass? Come and get it."

Faith stood up and started moving towards Riley. Buffy looked pissed. Turning to Riley she said, "Get out. Now. Before I let my sister really hurt you." She paused. She couldn't believe it. She thought he was a good guy. "And yeah, she could kick your ass. Just like I can. But hey, congratulations! You've pissed off two slayers! Now get the hell out!"

Buffy pushed him to the door. Riley stumbled back. He didn't know what was happening. Something must be screwing with their minds, because Buffy just called the girl Faith a slayer, and he had heard the whole one girl story from Giles. He decided better to retreat and talk to the professor before coming back at them. He turned and left.

Wow didn't think this one was coming easily. Had to rewrite it three times before it came out right. I can honestly say I wasn't expecting Dick Riley to show up. Part of it was him being a good boyfriend other part he's a self centered jerk. [See Suck Houses]. So More chapters are in the pipeline because this one had frozen the story but soon there will be more.


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

WARNING THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS REFERENCES TO CHILD RAPE. AND THE AFTERMATH OF IT. PLEASE EITHER DO NOT READ OR SKIP THAT SECTION.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 15

As Riley left the building, Faith came up to Buffy. "You didn't have to do that."

Buffy turned to her. 'Yeah I did. We might not have been real sisters before yesterday, but we are now. And nobody talks like that to my little sister."

Faith was surprised to hear the conviction in Buffy's voice. She meant it.

"You know he's going right back to Professor Walsh with everything that happened," Tara said.

"Yeah," A sober Buffy said. "Don't know how that's going to work out."

"Well I believe it is best we be on our guard. Since we kept everything to the truth, even if Professor Walsh and her group investigate they will find nothing that contradicts what we have told them," Giles said.

Turning to Xander, "I believe you still need to go and get your things from that house. If you'ld like I would be pleased to go with you."

"No I think I need to do this on my own. One last time to see Tony," Xander replied.

"Yo Boytoy, I'm going with you," Faith said.

"I can do it on my own, really," Xander said.

"Yah, I know. But Wings said we stick together. Any way you'd let me do something like this without you being there for me?" Faith asked. Xander shook his head "No" "Then why the fuck do you think I'd let you go alone?" Turning to leave she said, "We need to stop by the gallery and ask Mom to borrow the jeep. We'll come back here after we are done." With that she dragged Xander out of the Magic Box.

Arriving at the Harris house, Xander and Faith parked the Jeep. Xander went to go in the basement door but realized he didn't have his key. Going up to the front door he knocked. Tony Harris, only half drunk, opened the door. "Oh, it's you. Why the hell are you knocking?"

"Well Tony, since I was taken to the hospital in the middle of the night. I don't have my key," Xander replied.

"Tony? You little shit! Who do you think you are? Calling me Tony!" An angry Tony Harris replied. "You might be a worthless loser and I'm ashamed to admit it. But I'm still your father!"

"No, Tony, I'm not. See, I'm not a Harris as all. Found my real Dad. And I am out of here. Just came to get my stuff. So move out of my way and let me get my things." Xander pushed Tony to the side as he went inside. Faith was following, just a bit behind. She knew some things you had to get out of your system and this would be one of them.

Tony had fallen back when Xander pushed him aside. He raised up his fist to pound the worthless piece of shit that was his son. He hadn't yet realized that Xander had said he wasn't his son. He was shocked when the whore who was with Xander stopped his swing.

"I don't think so. Why don't you just sit the fuck down, shut the fuck up and we'll be done quickly." Faith picked up and threw the man down onto the living room couch. The noise brought Jessica Harris downstairs wanting to know what had happened.

Tony was pissed and scared. He wasn't sure what the girl was, but you didn't survive decades in Sunnydale without excellent instincts, and his instincts were screaming "Run and Hide". At the same time his brain finally processed the words Xander had said. "You fucking bitch!" he screamed at Jessica Harris. "I knew that little bastard couldn't be mine. Pansy wasted little faggot. You lied to me for years claiming he was mine."

Tony picked himself off the couch. He would show the bitch who was boss. Think she would get away with lying to him. He moved towards Jessica. Faith came right behind him. As he raised his hand to hit Jessica, Faith grabbed the hand and started squeezing. With her free hand she grabbed the back of his neck and applied just a little pressure. "I said shut the fuck up and sit down. I didn't say you could do anything else." She threw him back into the couch forcefully. "Now stay the fuck there or you'll be needing new kneecaps."

Jessica looked stunned. What? How? "Tony, of course he's your son. You know that."

Just than Xander came back up. He hadn't waited for Faith, so when she didn't come down right away he had to know why. "Wrong, Mom. Met my real Dad and even have the DNA to prove it."

Jessica didn't know what to say. Forty-eight hours earlier she would have been right in denying it. But now she had memories of her half brother Ethan and spending time with Ripper. "What are you talking about? Tony Harris is your father."

"Tony Harris is a waste of space. And he's lucky I don't just kick his ass. I've been fighting things a lot tougher than him, for years now. And I know my real Dad. You remember Ripper, right, Mom?"

Jessicas face went pale. He knew. How did he know? Tony, seeing Jessica's face go ghost white, was beyond pissed. "You fucking no good whore. I'm going to kill you and nobody will be here to stop me. I'm going to fucking feed you to the things in the sewers."

Tony could not be called a smart man. He could be called a drunk, a bully, possibly a low level minion if someone was desperate. But he would never be called smart. Xander, hearing the threats, turned to him. His body language was saying how much it was going to enjoy killing Tony. Faith intercepted him, "Xander, don't! Give him an option. A choice. He can leave or he can die. Don't just kill him."

Xander nodded to Faith. She understood. Sometimes evil came in human form. "Tony, you've got thirty minutes to grab your shit and go. If you're still here in thirty one minutes I'm going to beat the hell out of you, then take you to Shady Pines and tie you to a tree for the entire night. I'll call the cops in the morning. I'll tell them how you went out walking while drunk. They'll find your body. And that's the last we'll ever hear from the pathetic Tony Harris. Your thirty minutes starts now."

Tony got up and went up the stairs. He wanted to fight and argue, but he believed every word Xander had said. If he wasn't gone in thirty minutes he would die.

Jessica Harris turned towards her son. "Why the hell did you do that?" she yelled at him.

"Do you want to die, mom?" Xander asked in a dead voice. Jessica stopped, her heart frozen. Was he going to threaten her now? "He was serious. If I hadn't stopped him, by tomorrow morning you'ld be dead. And I guarantee once I leave here he'll come back. So if you want to live, I suggest you leave tonight. Go to uncle Rory's or call Uncle Ethan. Hey, I bet you Ethan could have a great time playing with Tony."

Jessica sat down. He knew, Alexander knew everything. She nodded her head. "I'll leave, but please stay until I'm packed. I'll go to Rory's tonight."

"Fine, mom, just don't come back here. He'll try to kill you. And if he gets his hands on you you're dead. File for divorce and get the hell out of Sunnydale before I have to bury you." He took his mom downstairs with Faith. They started packing his things. Within twenty minutes he had everything he wanted to take. Heading back up the stairs. He yelled to Tony. "You've got five more minutes, then we go to the cemetery."

Four minutes later Tony came down with two bags. He looked like he was going to say something. One look from Xander shut him up. After he left Xander waited for his mother to pack a bag. "Go to Rory or call Ethan, don't come back here alone."

Xander watched his mother leave, closed the door, then turned to Faith who had been waiting for him. Faith just held him as he cried.

Riley called his squad together as soon as he arrived back at Lowell House. Taking the elevator to the base, he led them into a conference room.

"What's up, Finn?" Graham asked.

"Something has happened with Buffy," Riley started. One good thing about military discipline is that they teach you how to keep quiet and listen. "I went to see her today and everyone was acting strange. They claimed that the HST we saw yesterday had attacked Buffy's sister and Harris first. And that when they defeated it everyone's wounds were healed."

"Buffy has a sister?" Graham asked. "I thought she was an only child?"

"She was, as far as she told me before yesterday. Today she has a sister. Said the girl was in a coma for the last six or seven months. And get this: the sister is a slayer, too." That got a reaction out of everyone. They had heard of the story the "One Girl". Riley continued, "Oh and Giles now has a daughter and a son. Harris is claiming he's Giles' son. The blonde girl Tara is claiming to be his daughter."

"So what happened? Why are you here alone?" Graham asked.

"When I tried to point out the complete bullshit of their story, Buffy turned on me. Threw me out. And said no one talked to her sister like that. I'm thinking the "Sister" may be the HST controlling everyone." Riley paused. "We need to gear up and do some surveillance, then take that thing down. Capture it if possible; I'm sure Professor Walsh would love to examine it. If we can't capture it we kill it."

"What if it's not alone?" Graham asked.

"As long as Buffy's not around, take out whoever is with it. We can handle them easily enough." Riley said with confidence. "We'll bring them all back here if we have to. Once the HST's hold is broken they can thanks us."

Driving back to Giles' apartment Faith and Xander were talking about small things. He was surprised to learn that after Wolverine it was She-Hulk. "Yeah, she's smart and if anyone gives her shit, she can turn into a hulk. What's not to like?" Faith was saying as they pulled up and parked. Getting out of the Jeep they each grabbed a box.

Reaching the door first Faith grabbed the keys from Xander's hand and opened the door. Walking inside she heard someone call from in the kitchen. "Oi Rupes, you're out of weetabix."

Putting the box down to the side of the door. Faith asked Xander, "Giles has a house guest?" She finished the question and looked at the guest. Thin, bleached white hair, cool jacket. And yellow eyes with the vampire ridges. Faith sprinted over to the vamp. She was on him before Xander could respond.

Spike saw the bit coming at him. She was moving faster than most master vampires could hope to move. Her fist hit his chest. He felt ribs breaking. Trying to get a arm up to block. The next strike was partially deflected, but it felt like his arm was fractured. He threw his other fist at this bitch's face.

Spike wasn't thinking about the chip. He wasn't thinking at all. He just knew if he was going to survive he better fight back. His fist slammed into Faith's face. Faith smiled a savage smile. She was barely bruised by the blow.

Spike couldn't believe it: this tart was stronger and faster than the slayer. She was tearing him apart. For every blow he could land she landed two. He felt ribs cracking from her last blow. As he fell back he saw the bitch grab and snap a wooden spoon. Reaching back she brought the spoon down.

Xander heard Faith say "Giles has a house guest?" She put down the box turned and took off. He was about to say it's nobody. He hadn't cleared the door and she was already beating the living hell out of the bleached wonder. Her speed was faster than he had ever seen any slayer move. He saw Spike trying to fight back. He watched as Faith broke a wooden spoon to stake Spike.

Xander dropped the box he was holding and yelled out "No, Faith! No staking," as the stake descended. It was hitting Spike's chest as it disappeared, orbing into Xander's hands.

Faith was stunned as the stake disappeared. "What the fuck, Boytoy?" she said, turning to Xander. Spike was pinned to the ground and not going anywhere.

Xander looked at the stake in his hand. "How? I ah don't kill him yet. Ah how did I do that?" Xander said.

Faith looked at him and saw the dropped box, the complete look of confusion, and just started laughing. Spike wasn't sure what the crazy bitch on top of him was on, but he didn't want to call any attention to himself. He had felt the stake going into his chest, and then it stopped. Right. Keep quiet.

Faith looked down at Spike. "So why aren't we killing him?"

Xander was still looking at the stake in his hand. Spike thought now would be a good time to speak up. "Oi, they know I've got valuable information, I do. Been in the belly of the beast. If they hadn't stuck this rotting chip in me head I'd show em all."

Faith looked at him like he was crazy. "What's the Idol wanna-be saying?"

"Oi, he stole the look from me!" Spike said. "And name's Spike, I'm the big bad."

Faith stood up looking down at the broken vampire. "You're the "Big Bad" compared to what? A puppy?"

"I think we need to call Giles," she said. Boytoy was still looking a little wild around the edges. As she moved to Xander she grabbed the stake out of his hand. He was still out of it. Pulling him close she began kissing the hell out of him. After less than three seconds he started responding.

At five seconds Spike started complaining. "Oi! Droopy! Best come help me up. Otherwise the slayer might be upset."

Faith broke off the kiss and turned to the vampire with a look that promised pain. "Now why would I be pissed? Unless he stopped kissing me?"

"Bugger me!" was Spikes only response.

Faith turned back to Xander, who seemed alright now. She kissed him once more. "Go call Giles. We need to talk. No way are you staying here with a vamp."

It took about twenty minutes before Giles got there. In the meantime Spike had gone through all the blood that was in the refrigerator. He wasn't looking great, but he was looking better.

Giles arrived with Joyce and Buffy. Looking at his destroyed kitchen, his reaction was predictable. "What the bloody hell happened here?"

Faith responded, "Good question, Giles. Boytoy and I came in and found this vamp in your place. I saw the eyes and ridges. I attacked. Just as I was about to stake the bleached wonder Boytoy yells out to stop and the stake disappears."

"Oi, I wasn't in game face when you came in!" Spike exclaimed, then muttered, "Wouldn't be polite."

"Fuck you weren't," Faith said getting up.

"Language, Faith!" Joyce said. "Please, sit down. Now, you, I've met you before but can't recall. Who are you and what are you doing here?"

Spike looked at Joyce, "Yeah we met before. A few years ago. I'm Spike. You hit me with an ax. During the Parent Teacher night."

"Oh, so you were trying to kill Buffy then?" Joyce paused, "So Buffy, is he like Angel now with a soul? Is that why you haven't staked him?"

"Oi, I ain't like the Poofter," Spike said.

Faith, having met Angel, laughed. "Hey!" Buffy looked at Faith. How could she? You're not supposed to laugh at your sister's soulmate.

"I prefer to call Angel Deadboy, myself," Xander said.

"So what, Droopy? Shut up. The important people are talking," Spike sneered.

Buffy got up and walked over to Spike. She hauled back and threw a punch with all her force at him. Spike lifted off the floor and crashed into the wall behind him. The wall now had a Spike size imprint. She looked at him still too pissed off. "You ever call him that again and I'll kill you. He's more important than you could ever imagine or be!"

As she said the last word. Murphy struck. Buffy saw Spike fighting to save a young teen girl from a demon. She saw him fighting other demons. She saw him working alongside Angel. Then she saw a scene of him trying to rape her.

Joyce had already reached Buffy's side. Everyone had seen her freeze up. "Buffy, what's wrong?"

Buffy looked at Spike. "You ever try to rape me and I'll rip you to pieces and slowly kill you with Holy Water!"

"What?" Joyce, Xander and Giles were on their feet. Faith looked at Spike and didn't say a word. She started moving to kill him. Buffy stepped in front of her. "Hasn't happened yet. Never will happen now. Because if he tries he knows what'll happen."

"B he's a vamp. Plus sounds like you're saying he's tried to rape you. He needs to die." Faith said.

"No Faith he hasn't tried to rape me YET. I saw it in the future. He would have tried." Buffy said.

Xander looked ready to kill. "Then why is he still not staked, Buffy?"

"Because I saw other things too. Him helping saving a lot of young girls. I think if we stake him they die," Buffy responded.

"So you want to let the rapist be around young girls that he can save? For what, so he can rape them afterwards?" Faith was pissed. "What maybe it won't be rape then. Maybe they'll have to spread for him because they owe him."

"What?" Buffy was confused. She didn't understand what was upsetting Faith.

"Because hey if they can't complain it's not rape then, right? I mean he did save them. So he's entitled to fuck them whether they want it or not. And he can just use their own panties to make them shut the hell up. Or just hit ema few times, right."

Faith was getting out of control, "And if they tell anyone, well, he can just say the little slut is lying. Or that she was coming onto him. And who's going to believe her?"

Joyce would later admit what she did was incredibly stupid. She moved to try and grab her daughter. Faith didn't know who it was. She was lost in a memory. "No! Don't touch me. Don't touch me ever again!" Faith punched out at Joyce. Being hit by an out of control slayer is not a recommended activity. Joyce's body was flying. She struck the ceiling and started coming down.

Xander had been subject to too many shocks. First the words Buffy said about Spike. Then as Faith ranted he knew: Faith had been raped. He didn't know when or how. But she had been raped and he didn't know how to help her. When Joyce moved to try and help her he felt his stomach drop. Faith hit her. As Joyce started coming down he yelled. "Joyce!"

Joyce was falling. And in pain. Then she was in Xander's arms. Faith looked shocked. She realized she had hit Joyce. Panic raced through her. She had to run away now. She had just fucked up the best thing to ever happen to her. She took off for the door.

Before Joyce could call out to Faith, she was already out the door. Joyce looked at Xander. "Go get her! You bring my little girl back to me." Xander nodded and took off. Buffy went to follow but Joyce called to her. "Buffy, stop. Faith won't listen to you right now. Wait till Xander brings her back. She'll listen to him."

Buffy nodded and turned to see how badly hurt Joyce was. Giles grabbed the first aid kit.

Spike summed everything up. "Bugger Me."

WARNING POINT SKIP IF THIS IS TOO MUCH

Faith ran. She wasn't sure where she was going. She was just running. Blowing through anything that got in her way. She had hurt her. She could see her hitting the ceiling and starting to fall. She could hear her real mom saying she was a useless slut. It was her fault. If she wasn't such a slut she wouldn't have had sex with her mom's boyfriend. She remembered telling her that he forced her. She didn't want him to touch her. Then her mom hitting her. Calling her a dirty whore. Ugly little slut.

She couldn't see where she was when she stopped. She fell down crying. Sobbing. What was she going to do now? Everything was ruined.

DONE FOR NOW THOUGH THE NEXT FEW CHAPTERS WILL HAVE MORE REFERENCES

As the HST tore out of Rupert Giles apartment, Graham radioed the team. "Target is on the move going south east. Target is definitely non-human. HST is exhibiting speeds much faster than any human could run."

It took them two minutes to track the HST. Luckily for them, the HST had left a trail of torn branches, overturned garbage cans, broken fences. All showed them the way the HST was going.

The entire squad gathered. The HST was in the park. It had taken almost five more minutes to gather everyone together. Riley looked at his men. "We try and take it alive. If for any reason that proves impossible, we kill it. Whatever this thing is we need to take it down fast. Don't give it a chance to escape."

The men moved to take down the HST.

Xander was out the door looking for Faith. She wasn't in sight. The only thing he saw was a car driving away. The darkness prevented him from easily seeing the signs of Faith's passage.

It took Xander two minutes to find the trail. Unfortunately for him he couldn't run a five minute mile. It would take him more than six minutes to reach Faith.

Faith was sobbing, her head filled with bitter memories of things that were done to her. She didn't hear them come up behind her. The first thing that made her realize she was in danger was the shock of electricity hitting her. "Get it!" "Keep up the pressure! Don't let this thing get away." More shocks hit her. Faith screamed.

Faith's pain filled screams cut through the night. She forced herself to her feet. One of the initiative men had gotten close to her. She hit him. His vest trauma plate shattered under the force of the blow. The black-clad man went flying through the air to hit one of the men shooting at her.

With the loss of one of the electrical charges hitting her, Faith felt better. She was still in pain, but now she could do something. She jumped for one of the men with a gun. He was five feet away. She cleared the distance easily. Faith pulled the blaster out of the man's hands, ripping off a finger in the process. She used the blaster like a club, swinging at the man's head. His helmet cracked from the force of the impact. She turned to the next closest enemy. He was moving his blaster to track her.

Faith threw the remains of the broken blaster at him. The barrel hit him in his hands. He screamed in pain. His hand had been broken by the impact, the shards of the blaster cutting into his arms.

Forty percent of his team was down. Riley called out, "Switch to lethal force. Kill this bitch."

Six guns trained on Faith. Luckily for her only two had a clear shot. Although two bullets would be more than enough to kill her.

I know I have made a very dark back story for Faith. I do believe it is a plausible reason for many of Faith's actions. Her distrust of others and use of her sexuality as a weapon. If this offended anyone I apologize but I have found most good stories are not all kittens and rainbows.

I can say in later chapters Faith will be getting the help that she needs and deserves.


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 16

Faith dropped to the ground as the shots were fired. She could almost feel the bullets going over her head. She knew she had just a few moments before they would track her and kill her. And while a small part of her said she deserved it, another large part denied that and wanted to do anything to live.

Xander ran into the park. He saw Faith being shot at by what looked like men from the Initiative. He saw her jump for an opening between two of the men and he watched as she vanished.

"Where did it go?" "Stay focused." "Do you see it?" Riley and his men couldn't find any sign of the HST. "Johnson, check the others. Are they still with us?"

Xander was torn: kill them or find Faith? He wanted to go in and take out Riley-he was sure it was Riley in charge of this-and his men. They had tried to kill Faith-but right now it was more important to find her.

Faith jumped, hoping they wouldn't find her. If only the darkness could make sure that they couldn't see her... and then they didn't. That asshole Riley was looking right at her and didn't see her. She didn't know what had happened to her. Faith thought about attacking them now. But two things stopped her. One, she didn't know how long they wouldn't be able to see her. And two, she wasn't sure they actually deserved to die.

Faith started moving away from the group. She didn't know where she should go. Where could she hide? She was moving randomly, without conscious thought. And she found herself outside of her old apartment.

Moving inside, she was surprised to find her things still there, the broken window covered in plywood. She looked around, remembering everything she was made to do, and everything that was done to her. Tears ran down her face as she cried.

Xander couldn't find Faith. What's more, he had to avoid Riley and his goons. He wandered around for fifteen minutes, unable to find any sign of Faith. Where is she? Come on, Xander, G-man called you a demigod, so use that. "You're useless" he heard Tony saying. "Shut up Tony! You're not my Father and I am going to find her!" He could see her right now. She was alone in a room somewhere crying. If only he could help her. Hold her.

Faith didn't hear Xander orb in. The first thing she knew was his arms around her. She didn't have any fight left in her. She cried. "I fucked up again. Can't do nothin' right! And now everyone knows about what happened and it was all my fault. Mama said it was all my fault."

Xander held her and said, "Know what your real Mom said to me? She said, 'Go get my little girl. Bring her back to me.' It's too late to run away now, Faith. I love you, your Mom loves you. Buffy loves you. Everyone wants you here. And yeah it's not going to be easy. But you don't get to run away anymore. Besides now that I know how to do it I can find you. I may not have the super Elder powers, but the Demigod powers seem to be cool. Better that Hercules too. He had to walk everywhere."

The last line brought the desired laugh from Faith. Just then there was a knock on the door. "You expecting company, Faith?"

"I don't even know how I got here. I just ran." Faith said

Carefully opening the door, Xander saw one of Sunnydale's demon population outside with a package. It looked surprised to see him there. "Got a package for her. From her real friends," it said as it tried to push Xander to the side.

Xander pushed back. The thing felt only about normal human strength. "Yeah, I doubt that. Tell you what, you put the package down right here and if she wants it she'll take it later."

"Get out of my way, human. I have to hand the package to her," the thing said. Once in the room, Xander could see it looked mostly human. Male with horns curving down its face. Its eyes had slits in them like a snake.

"Not happening. Like I said you can leave the package here or I'll make you leave it here." Xander had an idea. It was a bad idea, but if it worked it was scary as hell. He really hoped the demon would just leave.

The demon looked at him. "Fine, I don't mind hurting you." It sneered as it raised back its arm.

Please let this work. Xander sent a silent prayer to Shemp. Because hey, he was the only God he personally knew. "Arm" he called out holding out his hand. It's was a close call on who was more surprised: Xander that it worked, or the demon to see its arm materialize in Xander's hands.

Of course the blood that started shooting out from where the arm had been quickly won over surprise on the demon's part.

Xander smiled at the demon. "I gave you a chance. Now if I were you, I'd leave. Maybe if you tie that off. you can live. Just drop the package there and go." The demon didn't seem to hear at first. Xander could tell something was weird. With a human the blood loss would have already brought about death. The demon, except for the first second or two of blood spurting, now just had a stump. "What do you think happens if I take your head off that way?"

The demon dropped the package and turned to leave. "Hey" Xander called out. It stopped to look at him, "You forgot this." He threw the arm at the demon. The demon awkwardly grabbed its arm out of the air and ran.

"How the fuck did you do that?" Faith asked in awe.

Xander turned to her, grinned, and said 'I'm really glad that worked."

"What?" In astonished Faith cried. "You didn't know it would work?"

"No. If I had known I could do that, Riley and all his men would be dead right now," came Xander's grim reply. "I got to the park just as they were shooting at you. I saw you disappear.."

As Xander was talking Faith was staring at the package and starting to move towards it. Xander intercepted her. "Faith what are you doing?" he said as he carefully grabbed her.

"What?" came Faith's confused reply. "What? How'd you get so close?"

"OK, demon package is bad mojo I'm thinking. And I don't think you should touch it, Faith." Faith wasn't paying attention again. She was looking at the package. "Faith!" Xander said loudly right in her ear.

"What?" Once again Faith was pulled away from the package.

"Faith I'm getting us out of here. I don't trust whatever is in that package." Unfortunately for Xander the package was between them and the door. "Hold tight, Faith. I really hope this works," he said. Picturing Giles apartment, he orbed with Faith.

Once Xander had left to find Faith, Giles checked Joyce for any serious injuries. Spike had pulled himself out of the wall. Buffy, looking at him said, "Spike, it's your lucky day!"

"Bugger that! What the hell is going on here, Slayer? First psycho bitch tries to stake me. Then your mum is disappearing in lights and Droopy is holding her. What the Hell is going on here?" Spike said.

"Spike, this is your last warning. You call Xander that again and I will shatter both your knee caps. And every time I hear you call him or any of my friends names like that again I will break something on you if they don't do it first." Buffy smiled. "I may have to keep you alive for now. But I don't have to keep you pain free. And as a vampire you can take a lot of pain."

"Buffy, I'm sure Spike wouldn't dream of doing anything like that again," Joyce said from where she was lying on the couch. "Because if he ever calls either of my daughters "Psycho Bitch" again I will castrate him slowly, with Holy Water." Joyce smiled, looking at Spike. "You understand, don't you Spike?"

"Bloody Hell." Spike could see the bird meant it. "Yes mum, Won't happen again." It's just not right, a bird threatening me tackle like that, he thought.

"Now Buffy, why don't you explain what happened and why you said we shouldn't stake Spike."

After explaining the vision she had had when she hit Spike, she said, "It wasn't like a slayer dream but I know it could come true. He can do a lot of good."

Spike was keeping quiet. Hearing what Buffy said he thought 'Oi, bugger that. Soon as I get this chip out you're all dead. Seems you forgot, slayer. I may not be able to hit you or the rest but I ain't no white hat.' Spike wasn't sure if it was true; he had hit the other slayer. And just maybe he would be able to use that and get his third and fourth slayer. Plus, as hurt as he was right now he wanted to heal up first. Plenty of time to kill them all later.

"I think we shall have to research this, Buffy. Slayers have never shown a talent for waking precognition before." Giles said.

"Rupert, have you looked at your book yet?" Joyce asked.

"Ah, no, with everything that had been happening I have not had the chance to look it over," Giles replied.

"In the first pages, it contains common powers, what they are and how they manifest. Buffy just described precognition." Joyce said.

"What?" Buffy said. "Tara and Willow are both tele thingies and can move stuff with their powers. I get this percognery thing. I want a better power." She finished with a pout.

Joyce laughed as her daughter pouted. "I don't think it works that way, Buffy."

"Mom, do you want to go home? We could wait for Xander and Faith there." Buffy asked.

"No, we'll wait here. But tomorrow we are getting cell phones. I don't want to be unable to talk to any of you," Joyce answered. "And since Xander will come back here we'll wait here."

"Normally I would offer some tea but since my kitchen has been destroyed, I don't think I can do that," Giles said looking at the remains of his kitchen. This caused them all to look at the rest of the damage done.

"I don't think you'll be getting your deposit back, Giles," Buffy quipped. "But at least you were planning to move anyway."

Joyce looked around and said, "I think it might be best if you and Xander took the downstairs rooms until you manage to find a new place."

"Oi and what about me?" Spike said indignantly. "Just going to leave me here, then?"

Giles looked at Spike and said, "Yes. Yes, I believe that is the best plan. In fact whilst we wait I shall pack some bags. Buffy, if you would gather up the books, we could start moving them tonight after Faith and Xander return. Joyce, I must insist you stay where you are. Whilst at first I thought you were seriously injured. Looking at you now, I do not think you have been seriously hurt, still, I don't want you straining yourself."

Giles packed several bags of clothes and several more of books, gathering his most important volumes. He knew it would take many trips. Even with most of his collection now at the Magic Box, he still had what by anyone else would be considered a large collection here.

While they were packing up, they all hoped Xander and Faith would return soon. Joyce kept glancing at the door waiting for their return. So, of course, Xander orbing into the room surprised everyone.

"Bugger me!" Spike yelled in surprise. "What the bleeding hell are you, Droopy?"

Buffy had stopped what she was doing and was already moving by the time the word Droopy came out. Reaching the unaware Spike she landed a vicious sidekick to his knee. Spike went down screaming. "I warned you, Spike. You had better remember next time! This time, it was one kneecap. Next time it'll be both."

Xander was staring in awe. Yes! Finally Buffy wasn't going on about the poor helpless vampire. Looking at Spike on the ground he smiled. "You really don't want to know what I am, Spike. But you ever come after one of my girls again and I will take you apart piece by piece. The I'll take your chest and head and cement you into a building foundation."

As soon as she saw Faith, Joyce was moving. Faith was shocked by what Buffy did and didn't see her until it was too late. Joyce wrapped her arms around her. Pulling her close. "Don't you ever run away like that again." She said in a fierce voice.

Faith started to protest: she was bad, Joyce needed to stay away from her before she hurt her again.

Joyce held tight to Faith, "Bullshit, Faith." Faith was stunned she had cursed. Her Mom had cursed. Joyce pulled her in tight. "I have an idea of what happened and we will find someone to help you talk about it." Faith started to protest that too. "Faith, I love you. And you will do this, because it will help. Not at first, but it will help in the long run. Now you say you're sorry for running away like that. And tell me what took so long for you to get back."

Faith nodded. Mrs. Summ.. no, her mom was a force of nature that would not be denied. Sitting down on the couch next to her mom and Xander she looked around. As she prepared to talk she asked, "Why the hell is Bleached Wonder still in game face?"

Buffy looked. "Hmm, didn't really pay attention, but yeah, Spike, why don't you put it away, no one wants to see it anyway."

Giles cleared his throat, "Erhm Buffy, Faith, Spike isn't in game face right now."

Both girls looked at him like he was nuts. "Yeah, he is." Faith said. "He is too, Giles," Buffy said at the same time.

"So both of you see him vamped out right now?" Xander asked.

After hearing their confirmation Giles smiled, "This is wonderful."

As both girls looked at him, their eyes asked, "What the hell are you on?"

"Don't you see? If you are able to detect vampires this easily just by looking at them it will make slaying so much easier! Never again will you have to worry about accidentally mistaking a human for a vampire," Giles explained.

Spike was getting worried. What the bloody hell was going on? The slayer was more powerful than ever and the psycho was just as bad. This didn't sound good.

Xander had been watching Giles. But he saw a look go across Spike's face. and while he was glad Buffy was finally treating the vampire like a threat, he didn't think that anyone, including himself, had thought about all the information they were giving the vampire.

"Hey, before we share everything that happened, I think we should take this back to Mrs. Summers house. " He grinned, "We can eat and talk there."

"Ah yes, that might be a good idea, Xander. Since I am afraid we won't be able to do that here. Also, we need to take our things there," Giles responded. "Since the flat really won't do for the two of us and Spike, Joyce has offered her downstairs until we purchase a new home."

The group quickly gathered the boxes that had been packed and filled the back of the jeep. They also filled what space was available in Giles Citroen DS Wagon. As they were packing everything, they didn't notice the car across the street. They were once more under surveillance from more members of the initiative.

Looking at the space available Giles commented, "Xander, you need to put some of this back. Right now there is no space for you or Faith."

"Yeah, I figure Faith and I will travel air Xander. As soon as you guys take off we'll go back upstairs and then meet you at the house," Xander said.

"Are you sure you have enough control to do that?" Giles asked. "After all, you just figured out how to use your ability this morning."

"Yeah, I think I can do it without any problems," Xander replied.

Giles nodded, "Alright then, we will meet you at the house." As Giles, Joyce, and Buffy drove off, the two soldiers watching saw Faith and Xander enter the apartment.

Quickly calling in the news they were told to hold the position; a backup team would be there soon. They settled down to wait.

Inside the apartment, Xander grabbed Faith. Looking at Spike, he said, "Well, have fun. And try not to destroy the place. Because no way in hell are you getting invited into Casa Summers. And if you somehow do get an invite there, I will stake you."

With those words, Xander and Faith orbed out. "Bloody hell!" Spike yelled. "What the hell is going on here?"

Xander and Faith orbed into the living room. Xander smiled; that was getting easier. "Hey, we still have a few minutes, why don't you go grab a shower real quick. I'll see about making some snacks."

Faith felt dirty. With everything that had happened tonight, a shower sounded really good. She thought about asking Xander to wash her back. But she had made a promise. And right now it didn't feel right. Faith quickly hugged Xander, "Good idea. But maybe next time you can come wash my back," she said as she went upstairs.

By the time Faith was done showering, Giles, Buffy and Joyce had arrived. Sitting down, Faith started telling what had happened. Xander was holding Faith as she talked. When she got to the part about being attacked he interrupted.

"Buffy, your boyfriend and his men were shooting to kill," Xander stated.

"Riley wouldn't do that!" Buffy protested. "Maybe it was a different group of soldiers. There are more than just him there. It could have been a different group. Did you actually see him there?"

"Well, no. They were all covered. But if I find out he was responsible for this, I will kill him." Xander stated.

Faith was suddenly very tense in his arms. "No! I don't want you to do that for me. Please, they didn't actually hurt me."

"Faith, they were trying to kill you. If you hadn't disappeared like you did they would have killed you!" Xander protested.

"But they didn't, and you don't get to kill them." Faith looked at him trying to make Xander see how important that this was.

"Fine, I won't kill them—this time. But they do anything like this again, I will be taking body parts from them," Xander reluctantly agreed. Faith snuggled into Xander's embrace. He had agreed to not kill them. That was all that mattered right now.

Giles looked at the two of them. "Xander, I have the feeling you are not talking about just chopping these men up with your ax. What do you mean by you will be taking body parts?"

Faith perked up. "It was wicked fucking cool, Jeeves!"

"Language, Faith!" Joyce called out. It might take time, but Joyce was sure she could break Faith of the habit.

"Sorry," Faith replied. "But it was still wicked cool! This demon came at Xander and he took off its arm. He just called out 'Arm' and the demon was spurting blood where its arm used to be."

'What? How did you do that?" Giles asked Xander. Buffy and Joyce were not far behind in asking the same question.

"Well, I thought maybe I could just orb part of something. And I was really hoping that it would work." The others looked horrified at that. "So I tried it. The demon wouldn't take no for an answer. It kept trying to hand Faith this package and I didn't think that was a good idea."

"What package and what demon?" Joyce asked.

"Yeah, we hadn't gotten to that part yet," Xander continued. "But I really think Dad needs to look at that package, because Faith was being really weird about it. She kept blanking out and moving towards it. I don't think her touching it would be of the good."

Giles and Joyce looked alarmed at that. "Where is this package now?" Giles asked.

"We left it at my old place," Faith said. "It was really weird. X-man just kept coming out of nowhere and I didn't even see him."

"Xander, I think I may need you to take me to this package," Giles began.

"Not without me, Giles!" Buffy demanded.

"Buffy, right now I am unsure as to whether this package was designed to draw Faith to it or just a slayer," Giles explained. "I feel it would be prudent to go with Xander first, since he has already demonstrated that it does not affect him. Even if it affects me, I am confident that Xander could orb us both out, without any problems."

"Let's finish catching up first," Xander suggested. "Then we can go check it out."

Faith and Xander continued telling their story. Faith explained how she had just ran and apologized to Joyce over and over for hitting her. Joyce just smiled and said, "You have nothing to be sorry for-well, not for that anyway. But you will not run away again." She was hugging Faith, her voice fierce and full of anguish. "I almost lost you tonight. If you hadn't escaped those men. I," tears started to flow down Joyce's cheeks. "I might not have ever known what happened to you!"

In a very quiet voice, Faith hugged Joyce back, "I'm sorry, mom. I'll try not to do that ever again."

"Hey, how did you disappear?" Buffy asked. She really didn't get that. But it sounded cool. And she better be able to do that too.

Yes," Giles added. "What exactly happened there?"

"Uhm," Faith started. "I don't know. I just needed to get away, ya know, and suddenly it was like they couldn't see me. One of them was staring right at me and it was like he was looking through me."

"Hmm. Faith, I would like you to close your eyes please," Giles began. "Now concentrate on the feeling you were feeling: the need to get away, to make sure they couldn't find you."

Faith thought it was a weird request but said, "Ok, if you want." She closed her eyes and remembered: The guns were drawn and pointed at her; the fear that she was going to die. She had to get away.

"Whoa!" Xander said.

Joyce called out, "Faith? Are you still here?"

Buffy went a different way. "Giles, no fair. How come Faith gets this cool power and I get the stupid Permony thing! I want a better power!" Buffy had tried turning invisible at the same time, but for her nothing had happened.

Faith opened her eyes as a shock ran through her. "Power? You think this is like a power for me like Red and Tara having their telekinesis thing?"

Buffy nodded, "Yeah and it's so not fair! Why don't I have a cool power like that?"

Xander looked at Faith, and smirked, "You realize this means you're Invisible Girl?"

Buffy responded with, "Eww, no, Xander. No Marcie Ross comparisons."

"I think you mean "Invisible Woman."" Faith said while thrusting her chest at him. Xander, his eyes drawn to Faith's chest, nodded his agreement.

"Xander dear, please quite drooling," Joyce said. "Faith, stop teasing Xander like that."

"Xander grinned and said, "Would that make me Mr. Fantastic? Or do I stay X-man and we can do a team up?"

Buffy groaned, "That was too nerdy even for you, Xander." She threw a pillow at his head. "It hit him and he just laughed.

Buffy and the others quickly explained about the meeting at the Magic Box earlier in the day, Riley's reaction, and how Buffy had told him to get out.

"Well, what if we take them the proof? The things that prove Faith is my sister?" Buffy asked. "If we take it to Professor Walsh she should be able to stop it. I mean we can threaten to call whoever did the agreement thingy and get them in trouble, right?"

"That may work, Buffy. But I don't want you to go alone. I suggest that tomorrow we read through the agreement to see what we can tell them. I am afraid I do not recall all the pertinent details. Then plan on confronting Riley and Dr. Walsh," Giles suggested.

"And in the meantime, no one goes anywhere alone," Xander said. "I don't know if they went after Faith because she was alone or if they were just trying to get her."

"Good," Giles said. "Now, Xander, I think you and I should go check this mysterious package." Xander nodded and grabbing Giles he orbed away.

center*******WARNING THEN NEXT PART TALKS ABOUT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE*******/center

Once Giles and Xander had left, Joyce turned to Faith. "Faith, I think we need to talk about some things," she began. Faith started looking nervous. Joyce quickly moved to reassure her. "You've done nothing wrong, Faith. But as your mother, I need to understand some things that may have happened to you when you were younger."

Turning to Buffy she said, "Buffy, I love you, but I think it may be easier for Faith if this was a private conversation. Please go upstairs for now."

Buffy got up and started to go upstairs. "Wait," Faith called out. "I think it'll be. Is it, if you want you can stay, Buffy." Faith stumbled over her words. "I don't want to have to hide anymore. And you stood by me today. I hope you will still want to be my sister after.." Faith finished with tears starting to flow.

Buffy nodded and sat down. She held one of Faith's hands while Joyce was hugging her shoulders. "Faith, earlier when Buffy was talking about seeing Spike trying to rape her, your reactions... Faith who raped you? When did it happen?"

Faith slowly started talking. She talked about being a little girl ten years old, and how her mom's boyfriend came into her room one night. How he forced her and she tried to fight, but he was too big and too strong for her to win. She talked about how her mom didn't believe her. Faith cried as she said, "She said it was all my fault, because I was just a dirty slut and a whore. But I didn't want him to touch me. And after that, he would come in almost every day. And he kept forcing me. And then momma said if I was such a whore I could earn my keep. And she started to bring other people. And no one listened."

Buffy was horrified. How could anyone do that to a little girl? Her own mother, how could she do that?

Joyce knew now was not the time to show her anger. Faith needed her. Her daughter needed her. She held her close. "Faith, it wasn't your fault. And don't ever refer to that bitch as your mother. In fact, you have permission to only call her 'Bitch'. She wasn't a mother. A mother's job is to make sure their children are safe and protected. She didn't do that. She abused you and helped others to do the same. We are your family. Me and Buffy, Giles, Willow, Tara and especially Xander. We love you and will protect you."

Faith was crying. "But when he finds out he's going to leave me. He won't want me anymore."

Joyce didn't need to ask who 'he' was. "No, he won't! Xander will never blame you. He might want to go kill a few people for hurting you, but he would never leave you for something you had no control over." She took Faith's face in her hands. "And Faith, you had no control. You were a little girl. You had no hope of fighting those men off. It's not your fault. It was never your fault." She pulled Faith into a hug.

Faith shook her head in disbelief. She knew it was her fault; her momma had said so. But her Mom was saying it wasn't and she wanted to believe her. She wanted to believe she wasn't dirty and worthless. She didn't know how to do it. She held her Mom and cried.

Buffy didn't know what to say. She had always though Faith acted like a slut just because. To hear her talk about what had been done to her as a little girl... It shocked her. She knew monsters existed; over the years she had fought so many of them. But this was a human monster and she didn't know what to do.

As Faith sobbed into Joyce's shoulder Buffy came around from the back and hugged her sister. She may not have known what to say but she knew she wanted to show Faith she still cared about her.

center******END OF WARNING- REGULAR STORY RESUMEES*****/center

Once Droopy and the psycho had disappeared in the blue lights Spike sat down to think. He wasn't sure what the hell was going on but something big had changed. He could hit the psycho; did that mean he could hit the slayer? He tried to think, and realized that since escaping the initiative he had only tried to feed or attack normal humans. "Maybe slayers don't count," he mused. "And if they don't count what else doesn't count?" Spike had been feeling the loss. He loved to brawl, to prove he was the biggest and the baddest. "I need to find out. Now where can a fellow go to get a bit of a brawl?" He smiled, "Willy's." Picking up his jacket he decided to head over there. A bit of blood and he'd be right as rain. Then see if he was alright to beat some fledges. Standing up, he felt every bruise and broken bone; his knee screamed in pain. Maybe tomorrow night would be better. Best to be at full strength.

Riley received the report about Faith being at Giles apartment again. How everyone had left except Harris and her. He was looking down at Forest. His skull had shattered under the HST attack. The doctor's prognosis wasn't good. He probably wouldn't make it. He wanted payback as he started issuing orders to prepare a larger and more lethally armed team to attack, Professor Walsh arrived.

"Belay that order," she called. "Agent Finn, what is going on? I received a call of multiple injuries to your team and I was not informed of any special operations scheduled for tonight. Explain yourself."

Riley began telling Dr. Walsh everything that had happened earlier: his encounter at the Magic Box; his suspicions that this Faith girl was actually an HST controlling the others; the attempt to capture it earlier tonight, and the results.

"I want this thing captured alive," Dr. Walsh said. "If it is capable of doing everything you said, we need to study it. Take as many men as you need but I want it brought back alive. Try using gas and tranquilizers. If that doesn't work shoot to disable, not to kill." Riley started to protest. "You have your orders, Agent Finn. I expect you to follow them."

Riley nodded. "Yes, Ma'am." He began issuing new orders to his men. They had twenty men available and would attack from the front and the back of Giles apartment, with more men covering the outside.

John Anderson was an American-born watcher. As such, he knew he didn't get the same respect as his British born colleagues. In fact, he had been surprised when he was assigned to a potential. But after eight years he was happy to have had Kennedy under his care. She might be abrasive and think she knew more than she did, but she was his responsibility. He had been shocked when the previous night she had become the Slayer. He had thought her chances of being called were very slim.

He immediately reported the new development to the Watchers headquarters. Less than two hours later he was given his marching orders. Take his slayer to Sunnydale, California and determine what had happened to the previous slayers. When he asked if two slayers had been called he was informed that they were still trying to determine that. He was told that a council response team would be arriving soon to assist him in finding out what had happened. He was told to have his slayer investigate as well but not to inform her about the council team.

He scheduled himself and Kennedy on the first available flight. Unfortunately for him, there were no first class tickets available. Kennedy complained the whole time. Once landing in Los Angeles, they took a connecting flight to Sunnydale.

Arriving at the motel they had secured, Anderson began placing the charms he carried to prevent Vampires from entering. "Kennedy, I want you to do a patrol of these three cemeteries. See if you can determine whether or not there is an increase in demonic activity. After that, you will go to Willy's Bar, a known demon gathering spot. According to Watcher Giles, Slayer Summers was usually able to intimidate the owner into sharing information. Find out what he knows about what happened to slayers Summers and Lehane."

The patrols were uneventful. Kennedy dusted one fledgling. She was feeling hyped up. She was the slayer. Anyone gave her any problems and she would kick their asses. Entering into Willy's Bar she looked around.

The seedy-looking guy behind the bar looked at her. "Hey, kid, this isn't a place you want to be. I don't serve kids. Get the hell out!" Willy was scum; he didn't actually have a problem serving minors. The problem was a little thing like her would probably cause a fight. A fight over what got to eat her. Better to get her out of here then have to deal with cleaning up after a fight.

Kennedy strutted up to the bar. Grabbing Willy by the collar she lifted him up and pulled him up and across the bar. "Hi," she said. "I'm new in town and heard that you were the guy to ask questions to. I heard you know everything that happens in town. Is that true or would you rather I beat you till you answer me?"

Willy started his normal response to intimidation. Obviously, this wasn't a little human. He could tell by the hand on his throat it wasn't a vamp. The hand was warm. "Hey, look, sorry, 'bout that, thought you was a human. No problems here. Sit down and have a drink, maybe I can help you out. What do you want to know?"

Kennedy smiled. This was going to be easy. "Tell me about the slayers. I heard someone took them out yesterday."

Willy looked surprised. "The slayers? I know we had a guy in here gunning for the blonde but I hadn't heard he succeeded. Don't know nothin bout the other one. Last I knew she was working for the mayor. Got hurt or something. He made her disappear."

"Who was going after the slayer?" Kennedy asked.

"What's it worth to you?" Willy asked. Kennedy reached up and grabbed his hand. She started to squeeze.

"I think it's worth your hand." She said.

"Owh, owh, alright, just let go," Willy cried. "Some demon, never seen him before. Scabby skin, leaked yellow puss. He said he was going after the slayer. I figured same old same old. Someone guns for the slayer. Slayer takes it down."

"Where can I find this demon?" Kennedy asked.

"Hey, what's it to you? I mean slayers gone, that's a good thing. Unless you're another slayer right?" Willy's laugh died as he realized who she must be. "Aw, shit, look, slayer, I don't know anything else, ok. Just don't destroy my bar."

Kennedy was about to reply when the door opened and a new demon entered. It was large with horns on its face. It was carrying an arm in one hand. Looking at it, you could see it looked like something had taken off the arm it was holding.

Willy seeing a great distraction called out. "Buddy, what happened to you?" He motioned the demon up to the bar and poured it a beer. "Drink up. What happened to you?"

The demon looked at Willy. Drank half the beer. "I was just trying to deliver the package," it said, "and that thing, it took my arm!"

Questions started from the crowd "What thing?" "What package?" "Who was it for?"

Willy sorted them out. This was really his primary business. "Who were you delivering a package for?" After all, it could have been a setup from the start.

"Wilkins. He said as soon as she woke up we had to deliver his package," the demon replied. Drinking the rest of the beer, he held out the glass for a refill.

Willy refilled the beer. Wilkins was big, but the slayer had taken him out. So probably some revenge plan. "Who were you delivering it to?"

"The girl. Wilkins said as soon as she woke up we had to give her the package. But only to her. Hand it to her and nobody else he had said." The demon drank the beer down again. "More!"

"Sure buddy. No problem," Willy replied refilling the beer again. "So what went wrong? The dark haired slayer do that to you?"

The demon shook its head. "No, she was with some guy. Looked human. But he just said "Arm" Then this blue light was in his hands. Suddenly he was holding my arm in his hands. Then I felt the blood and my arm was gone. He told me to leave the package and get out or the next thing he called for would be my head." The demon drained the beer. "More!"

Willy poured the beer. Some mage was with the dark slayer. "Sure thing," he said but held the beer mug back. "But tell me who was the guy? I mean I don't want to accidentally piss him off."

The demon nodded as it reached for the mug. "Yeah, was the kid. From the Slayers' old group. I always thought he was just human. But he's not. There's something weird about him."

"Harris? The Harris kid did this to you?" He asked trying to confirm the story.

"Dark hair, young for a human. Wasn't the watcher. I didn't see him. He was waiting for her in the apartment. We were watching and he never came in so he must have been waiting for her," The demon finished.

Kennedy decided she had enough information to go back to her watcher. Getting up she moved to leave the bar. One of the vamps moved to intercept her. Willy called out, "Not in my bar. You do it in the bar you're cut off." The vamp thought about it for a moment then sat back down.

"Smart move," Kennedy called out as she left the bar. She headed back to the motel to tell her watcher what she had learned.


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

Thank you Pattisue for Recommending the story.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 17

After Kennedy gave her report, Anderson thought for a few minutes. "I think we need to go check out Watcher Giles' apartment. I will drive you close to there, then drop you off. Once you have determined that Watcher Giles is present and the situation is safe, you will call me."

Kennedy nodded; this would be easy. The two of them drove to within two blocks of Giles apartment. Getting out of the car Kennedy moved with confidence. She knew she was the most dangerous thing out tonight. She wasn't paying that much attention to her surroundings. If she had been she might have noticed the men in several cars watching the street.

Arriving at Giles apartment, she knocked on the door. When she didn't get an answer she tried the handle; it was locked. She listened and could hear the T.V. from the inside. She knocked one more time. Still no answer. Pretending to move a key towards the lock she used her strength to force the door open. The dead bolt hadn't been locked. It had only been locked with the lower lock.

Forcing the door open she made her way inside. Sitting down on the couch was a man about twenty. His hair was bleached and looked like he was a Billy Idol fan. "Oi, who the bloody hell are you?" he asked, getting up from the chair.

Kennedy didn't answer. She was the slayer; she would ask the questions. "Who are you? And where's Mr. Giles?"

"Well I'm a friend of his, ain't I? I'm in his bloody flat. And unlike you, he asked me to be here." Spike answered. He didn't know who the bird was. But she was stronger than she looked based on how she opened the door. "So who are you and why would Giles want to talk to you?"

Kennedy could feel there were vampires nearby. They must be outside, she thought. "I need to talk to Mr. Giles. Do you know how to get ahold of him?"

"I might, but what's in it for me? He didn't say anything about me being his bloody messenger service. So if you want me to contact him so bad why should I bother?" Spike replied.

Kennedy was getting impatient. While she had been well trained not to harm humans she knew she could scare this guy a little. She smiled as she moved up to him. Grabbing him and lifting him up by his shirt she said, "Look, tell me where Giles is now!"

Spike hadn't been in a good mood, not since Droopy and the Psycho had shown up. Now this little bitch thought she could intimidate him? Not bloody likely. Reaching up he decided it was time to test the chip. This little bitch wasn't human and he was hungry. He grabbed her hand and started twisting as he showed his game face. "Oi, now that wasn't nice. I think I'm going to have to hurt you now, love." As he finished he punched her in the face.

Spike was ecstatic: no pain! What's more, this little bitch wasn't too bad looking; maybe he'd a shag and a meal. All that talk of raping the slayer earlier had sort of gotten him going. Dru liked to play those games and he had fond memories of them.

Kennedy couldn't believe it. A vampire in Giles' apartment. He had to be dead; otherwise the vampire couldn't have gotten in. The vampire was twisting her wrist when he punched her in the face. She tried fighting back but she was caught flat footed and he had leverage on her. He hit her again and again. She felt herself fighting to stay conscious. She hit him a few times and he laughed, "Don't know who you think you are love, but you can't hit worth shite."

Kennedy managed to say, "I'm the slayer and I'm going to kill you!"

"Wot another one? Well, luv, I'm the big bad and you are dinner!" Spike smiled as he brought Kennedy in close. She struggled but he started to feed. It was glorious ambrosia. Not just blood but slayer blood. He had been afraid he would never again get to feed. But here he was. He was back. He could feel the slayer starting to go limp in his arms. He wondered if he should stop, savor her more. Bugger that, there's always another slayer to drain.

That was when he heard footstep coming towards the door, just as the front window was shattered. A canister entered the room. White smoke belched out from the canister, and it burned. Tear gas was getting in his eyes. While he wasn't forced to breath it, he still had to have his eyes open. The door shattered as men in the Initiative's uniforms ran into the apartment.

Spike dropped the girl. She might not be dead yet but probably close enough. He moved to punch one of the soldiers. Time for payback, bitches. His fist connected. Pain shot through his head, crippling him. Spike fell to the ground. The soldiers hit him with tasers and he was knocked out.

From his position in the command post of one of the vans, Riley was watching the assault. When they entered he spotted Hostile Seventeen. Calling out to his men, he ordered them to capture it. He also saw the young girl that Hostile Seventeen had been feeding on. Even as he went to give a warning he was too late. Hostile Seventeen hit one of his men and was on the floor screaming.

The men checked every room in the apartment. There was no sign of Harris or the other HST.

"Bring Hostile Seventeen and the unknown HST to the van. We'll figure out what she is back at base." The men quickly complied. They bandaged the unknown female's neck and placed her in restraints, then carried her out along with Hostile Seventeen.

From a block and a half away Anderson was watching. Using a camera with night vision he saw men moving in a military fashion carting away his slayer and another figure. He could tell it was male and that it wasn't Rupert Giles. He snapped photo after photo of everything. As the vehicles drove off, Anderson attempted to follow them but he dropped too far behind them and lost them somewhere near the college.

Driving back to his motel he quickly called the council. It appeared someone had set a trap for the slayer. He had seen how the vehicles were on the street before they arrived, and they waited until Kennedy was inside to attack. Some human group was hunting slayers.

It was almost one in the morning when Anderson called the council. People had just started their morning. He quickly gave his report of the capture or possible death of his slayer at the hands of a military or mercenary group. When the report was received the young assistant who was manning the phones immediately went to notify the council members.

Riley and his team had been back for over an hour. They had changed and done a preliminary debriefing on the operation. Professor Walsh had not been pleased that they failed to find the target. However, she was pleased that they had reacquired Hostile Seventeen. When she learned that Seventeen had been feeding on an apparent human she was less than pleased. She ordered a full evaluation of the chip. She also ordered preliminary findings on the girl.

Maggie was sitting in her office thinking. The preliminary report on the young woman had come back to her. The subject exhibited accelerated healing. In fact, based on what they could determine, Seventeen had almost drained her dry. Yet her red blood count was almost back to normal. She had only required several bags of plasma.

Even now as she watched the newest test subject, Maggie was thinking of how to make the most of her. There were several options for experiments she had wanted to try, and with the HST's quick healing rate it would be very easy to make the alterations she wanted. She smiled. Even if the subject were to die in the experiments she could still use her in project Eve.

As she was studying her options she received an email. The rather bland emergency budget meeting descriptor indicated that her backers wished to talk to her immediately. Margaret Walsh sat in her office, waiting at her computer for the video conference to start. Her work on Adam was moving forward and she was pleased with the results her teams were achieving. The only problem on the horizon was the Summers girl; she was distracting Riley too much.

But the latest test subject looked so very promising.

The computer screen suddenly showed the conference was starting. Only instead of her normal contact, there was another military officer on the screen. "Dr. Walsh, I am Colonel Maybourne. I know you were not expecting me but I have some new orders for you. Almost two days ago someone in Sunnydale posted some interesting questions requesting information on Jaffa, Ra, and people appearing and disappearing in a flash of light."

Walsh was startled; she was aware of the Stargate program because of the technology she had received for her own projects, but no one in Sunnydale should be asking those questions.

"What would you like me to do, Colonel Maybourne?" she asked.

"Find out everything you can about Willow Rosenberg and Rupert Giles. We also want to know about any of their known associates. And find out what they know about the Goa'uld. This is a high priority request, do not let anything stop you from fulfilling it. I will expect daily updates." With that, the screen closed.

Professor Walsh snorted. What an ass. If he had waited for any answers she could have already supplied him with information. However, the news that known associates of the Summers girl might have access to advanced alien technology-well, that shone a whole new light on the Summers problem. And the Col. had just authorized her to use any steps she deemed necessary to get answers. She wondered if Col. Maybourne even realized she had recorded the conversation so that she would be able to prove the validity of her orders.

As she thought about the newest information, she recalled what Agent Finn had told her earlier, that the supposed sister of Buffy Summers had made a miraculous recovery from a coma and been completely healed of all side effects.

How can I use this to my advantage? she mused. Agent Finn was enamored with the blonde ditz, but he was also loyal to his men, and one of his men had been seriously hurt tonight. She could use that. If she explained to him about the Goa'uld and their technology, and emphasized that Buffy Summers may have access to the technology needed to heal his men, he would be placed in a dilemma. Who to support: his men, or his love interest?

Maggie laughed. She already knew what would happen. Riley would side with his men. His sense of honor and duty would ensure that. And once he recognized that, then he would be easy to manipulate. In fact, if she phrased it just right... Yes, let Riley be the noble warrior. He would want to go to Buffy to ask her to help his friend. And when she turned him down, he would be exactly where she wanted him to be.

Sitting back in her chair she found herself smiling. Finally, Agent Finn would be back where he belonged. Picking up another report she examined the latest data from project Mariposa. The enzymes they had extracted from the cloned Goa'uld cells had increased the men's healing rate by a factor of four.

If the plan didn't work they could see about implanting one of the symbiotes into Agent Forest to see if it was capable of regenerating that level of damage. It would also be beneficial to see if the work they had done to short circuit the genetic memory of the Goa'uld was having any effect on the clones.

Standing up she saw the time. She quickly sent an email to Riley telling him to meet with her first thing in the morning. She also sent an email to her students, canceling classes for tomorrow.

As she walked back to her quarters she was very pleased with today's results.

That night Faith slept in her Mother's arms. The emotional outburst had left her so drained.

Waking up, Joyce saw Faith was curled up next to her. She gently stroked her hair and thought. Joyce felt the pain of a parent not being able to make everything better. She knew there wouldn't be an easy fix for Faith. But she knew that they would get Faith the help she needed. And until then she would have to make sure that Faith knew she was loved.

Gently she whispered, "Faith honey, it's time to get up." When that didn't really get any response Joyce shook her a little more. A groggy Faith finally responded."Come on, sleepy head, time to get up."

Faith reluctantly opened her eyes. She quickly realized where she was. She knew she should be freaked out by everything that she admitted last night. But her Mom had held her all night; something that the woman who gave birth to her had never done. She felt it in her soul, Joyce loved her. Her Mom loved her. She was still scared. She hoped Xander wouldn't reject her when he found out. But she was scared to tell him, even though a voice inside her told her he wouldn't leave her.

Looking at Joyce she said, "Could you talk to Xander for me? I know he knows part of it, but I don't think I can tell him everything." She ducked her head down as she finished speaking.

"Oh honey, of course I will," Joyce said. "But I promise you the only people Xander will be angry at are the ones who hurt you. Now I want you to get up go get a shower. We have some shopping to do today. You need some new clothes, and we are getting cell phones."

Faith nodded and went to get ready for the day. Joyce watched her leave and quickly did the bare necessities for herself before heading downstairs to talk with Xander. Reaching the kitchen she was surprised to see Giles was already up. And it looked like he was cooking. "That smells wonderful, Rupert. What are you preparing?"

"Good morning, Joyce. Since last night was rather stressful I thought it best to start the day with a traditional English breakfast. I went to the market earlier and gathered everything we need, eggs, bacon, sausage, ham, baked beans, and fried tomatoes. And English breakfast tea. Although if you insist there is also coffee. Please, sit, eat."

"Rupert, I would love to, but I need to speak to Xander first before Faith gets down. But please make sure the children save me some." She smiled at him as she went downstairs. Once downstairs she woke Xander. He was worse than Faith, at least when it came to waking him up. When she explained that Faith asked her to explain what happened to her he dropped his normal cavalier attitude.

If anything, Joyce felt she had underestimated how upset Xander would get. But the one thing she stressed to him was to make sure that Faith understood that none of that anger was aimed at her. He calmed himself after that and said he would make sure to let Faith know he still cared for her just as much if not more.

Joyce then told him if he wanted to eat he had better hurry upstairs before all the fried food Rupert had prepared was gone.

Reaching the top of the stairs Xander saw the table was already occupied, Buffy had been pried out of bed, her hair still a mess. Faith looked like she had just showered. Her hair was still damp as he came up behind her and hugged her. He leaned down and whispered. "The only thing that has changed is I know how much stronger you are than I ever imagined. I love you. But if I ever get my hands on the people who hurt you, I will make them pay." Xander said as he finished kissing Faith on the cheek.

Grabbing a plate he filled it with a little of everything. He wasn't sure about beans at breakfast, but he figured he should try them. As he started eating he asked between mouthfuls. "What's the plan for today?"

"Well, I am taking Faith with me for some shopping," Joyce began.

"What about me, Mom?" Buffy asked in a wheedling voice.

Joyce smiled and said, "Yes, Buffy, you can come too. We will also be getting cell phones for everyone. What about you two? Any plans for today?"

"Well, I need to stop by my job. Luckily I have proof of being in the hospital so I think I'll still be employed. After that, I think we need to see about getting the rest of Dad's things."

"Yes, after everything that we uncovered last night I felt I should take time this morning to examine the Grimoire. I shall take it with me to the Magic Box and attempt to learn more during the day."

As they were speaking someone knocked on the front door. Xander got up to get the door. "Better not be Faith's dad. I'm winning the pool." Opening the door revealed Willow and Tara carrying two boxes of donuts.

"Hey, guys, we brought donuts," Willow started off. Seeing the food they were already devouring she trailed off. "Sorry, guess you're not hungry."

"Sacrilege!" Xander shouted. "There is always room for the sugary goodness that is donuts." He helped grab the boxes and set them on the kitchen "But sit, eat. We were just planning out our day." Both girls grabbed plates and sat down to eat.

"So Giles, Tara and I were talking about what to tell Faith's dad when he gets here. And we weren't sure because are we going to try and tell him everything?" Willow asked.

"Well, based on everything we know, I believe we will need to tell him as much of the truth as he can handle," Giles said. "The difficult part will be putting it in a context he can understand."

"I think I can pick up some iron rods today. That way we can have Buffy or Faith bend them to prove how strong they are," Xander suggested. "And if he's the same Jack that knows Loki, then he already knows about aliens. That should make it easier."

"Oh because like Giles said, some people will think demons are aliens because it's easier for them to believe. So if we avoid some words like demons and vampires and use species or creatures, he might think we are talking about aliens. Then we could ease him into it, right?"

"I'm thinking he's got to be the same guy. At least to where I would bet on it." Xander continued, "Shemp said Faith's new dad was owed one. And that Jack's son was killed by the Pricks. Well, they only seem to really interfere with the big things, and fighting aliens, that's big!"

"It does sound like a very plausible conclusion, Xander," Giles agreed. "But how would this change our approach to him?"

"Well if he is the guy from the vision other me saw, it might not be just him. He had the guy who was like a mini-Giles. And the black guy with the weird symbol on his head. And the blonde," Xander said. "They might be with him."

"Don't you mean the "Hot Blonde," Xander?" Tara asked with an innocent smile.

Xander groaned as the girls laughed at him. Joyce and Giles were smiling as well when he continued, "But we also need to decide what to do about Riley's group. I don't want them coming after Faith again."

"What?" Tara and Willow exclaimed. "When did this happen?" Tara asked.

The next thirty minutes were spent going over what happened last night. Tara and Willow were excited to learn that Buffy and Faith both had discovered a power. Buffy was still upset that she didn't get a cool power like Faith's. And both agreed they needed to get Spike out of Sunnydale.

"We should look through the NDA to see if it has anything we can use to get these guys off of us. I mean how would it look if a secret Government organization is trying to capture or kill someone who was the victim of another secret Government project?" Willow went on, "Since Professor Walsh's class was canceled for today. I can look that over."

"Hey, better idea," Xander said. "I think it would be great if all you girls went shopping this morning. I don't think Riley's guys will dare attack during the day. And the mall is very crowded so lots of witnesses if they did try something."

Tara and Willow looked torn. Finally after Xander, Buffy and even Faith egging them on they agreed to go. As Xander was getting up to go back downstairs and get ready for the day, Buffy intercepted him.

"Xander, promise me you won't go after Riley today," Buffy said. "Let me try to talk to him first. Please."

Xander looked at Buffy. "I promise I won't go looking for him. But if he comes after me or one of you, he's toast. I know you liked him. But if he tries to hurt Faith again, I'm going to make sure he never can try again."

"I'll talk to him," Buffy promised. She might be angry at him, but she still liked Riley.

After breakfast was over the woman all headed to the mall. They had stores to conquer. Giles and Xander headed towards the Magic Box. While driving Giles used the opportunity to bring up something he had never broached before with Xander because he had not felt it was his place.

"Xander, I know you have been working several different jobs since the end of high school, and most of them you found disagreeable." Giles paused to gauge Xander's reaction. Seeing that Xander was listening he continued, "Have you thought of going to college? At the time I thought you did not attend because of monetary concerns. And after meeting those people I am now convinced even if money were not the issue they would not have supported your scholastic endeavors. I, however, would like you to give serious thought to going to college. And we have more than enough to make sure that your education is paid for."

Xander was surprised at where Giles had taken the conversation. (A part of him wasn't: that small voice in his head that said, "See this is what a real Dad does. He cares about his kids future.") Looking at his Dad, "I really hadn't thought about it. I mean I did alright in school. But I never really liked it. And there was no way Tony was going to pay for college."

"Xander I can assure you, college is very different from high school. For one thing, since the Mayor was kind enough to eat that troll, Snyder, you won't have to worry about him. And you may find something that you are truly interested in."

"I've been enjoying construction work. I mean yeah, it's hard work, but it feels good to create something," Xander said.

"Well if you enjoy that feeling of accomplishment, perhaps you should look into becoming an architect. You could create buildings and one day see your creations become reality," Giles suggested. "And since I know Joyce will want Faith to continue her education, and I really do not believe Faith will agree to go back to high school-she will most likely obtain her GED, then take some college courses-well, it would allow you to spend more time with her."

Xander looked thoughtful as he pondered Giles' last statements. He knew it was true; there was no way Joyce would let Faith neglect her education. And Faith wouldn't go back to high school. Being back in school could suck, but being around his friends, family and Faith could be worth it.

"I'm not saying you have to make a decision today." Giles added, "Perhaps if you were to talk with Faith and Joyce. Also, since it is too late in the semester to enroll, you could simply gather some literature, just to see what is offered."

After arriving at the Magic Box and helping Giles get ready to open the store up, Xander decided he needed to talk to his boss. He had missed two days of work completely and was part way through the third. Giles offered to let him use his car, but Xander said no. This would be a good opportunity to practice his orbing.

Xander was getting more comfortable using his power, but he was still trying to learn the ins and outs. On the plus side, he now had a kick ass offensive ability. Orbing that demon's arm off last night was so cool. But he wanted to experiment. He began picturing different places.

He wasn't trying to picture every detail of the places; just get a feel for how they were. He wanted to learn to judge when a place might have people around and when it would be ok to orb in. Xander knew better than to just trust the Sunnydale Syndrome. With his luck, if he did, it would come back and seriously bite him in the ass.

Feeling confident that he could do it, Xander orbed to a place near his job site. Seeing the crew foreman at work Xander went to talk to him. "Bob," he called out as he approached.

"Xander, where the Hell have you been?" Bob said as he looked up. "Not like you to miss work without letting us know. I was worried you had run into problems with the gangs. I lose more men to those damn gangs."

"Yeah sorry about that, Bob. I was in an accident trying to get away from some gang members. Ended up in the hospital for a day." Xander began explaining to Bob.

"You're alright now, though?" Bab asked. "I mean, you don't look hurt." Bob wasn't sure what to believe; the kid didn't look like he'd been in the hospital. And the kid was usually one of his most reliable workers.

"Yeah, they don't know what it was. Maybe some weird chemical. Was causing convulsions. They had to knock me out so that I couldn't feel the pain. Then, boom, it was gone. So they think it was some weird chemical that I got exposed to while running away." After years in Sunnydale telling a plausible story to cover the weird was second nature. Too many people couldn't handle the truth. "Sort of like that day when no one could speak. I'm just glad it didn't hit the whole town."

Bob nodded; he recalled that day. He had heard there had been a strange virus that had caused it. Just glad it was over so soon. "So you ready to come back to work, then?"

"I was actually going to ask for a few more days. Doctors want to run some more tests and I need to be available for those." Xander said. More to the point he needed to make sure that if Riley tried anything, he was available.

"Sure, kid," Bob said. "But we are almost done on this job. Might be finished by next week for your part. After that, I don't have anything scheduled for two more weeks. Just let me know if you need more time. And listen to those doctors. They usually know their stuff."

"Thanks, Bob, I will," Xander smiled as he shook Bob's hand and walked away. Once he was out of sight he looked around for several of the iron rebar pieces they were using on the project. He grabbed three of them. Then he orbed back to the Magix Box.

Riley was still upset as he went to meet with Professor Walsh. He couldn't understand why she was insisting that they capture the HST Faith alive. As he knocked on the Professor's door he had mentally prepared several arguments to try and change her mind. If nothing else a sniper round should be able to take her out.

"Come in," came Professor Walsh's voice. Riley opened her office door and entered. The Professor nodded to him. "Good morning Riley. Before we start talking about what has been happening I need you to read certain reports. You are about to be informed of a project that is classified as Ultra Top Secret. You are not permitted to divulge any of the information you are given. Your team may not be informed of the things you are about to learn."

Riley hadn't been expecting this. In his confusion, he nodded and said, "Yes Ma'am, I understand. Will I be permitted to ask questions about this project to yourself or any others?"

"You are free to ask me any questions you would like. If I am able I will try to answer them," Professor Walsh replied. "Now these folders contain information on 'Project Bluebook'," she said, holding up a large pile of folders. "These may not leave this room. You are to take the next several hours studying them. After that, we will discuss how this may be related to the current situation with Buffy Summers."

Riley sat at a small table and began reading. He was shocked to learn of an active program run by the US Military to explore other planets. He learned the history of the Goa'uld and the existence of the Stargate. He read the mission briefs submitted by the various Stargate teams. Most of the extraordinary ones centered around the team SG1. He was shocked to learn that SG1 had an alien working with them. He read the intelligence analysis of the Goa'uld, their technologies as far as they had been able to extrapolate, and the known alien methods of operation. He was impressed by their healing abilities and how several times they had used advanced forms of mind control. The report on the Goa'uld Hathor was very upsetting.

After finishing the documents he was ready to talk to Professor Walsh. As he waited for her return he thought of what he had learned. It had taken almost three hours to read through all the information.

When Professor Walsh returned she saw him waiting patiently. "So Agent Finn, can I assume you have finished reading the mission briefs?" Riley indicated that he had finished. "Very good, Agent Finn, and I assume you have some questions?"

"Yes, Ma'am," Riley began. "Based on the known information you think this Faith may be a Goa''uld? Is that correct Ma'am?"

"Yes, Agent Finn, I do." Professor Walsh continued, "You reported that the group was exhibiting signs of mind control. Goa'uld have shown they have the technology to quickly brainwash people. Also, you reported people vanishing in a bright light. The Goa'uld and the Asgard use a form of teleportation which causes a bright light. I have managed to pull a preliminary report. Faith Wilkins was a patient in long-term care at Sunnydale Hospital until she disappeared two days ago. She had been in a coma for over six months."

"And her supposed relationship with Buffy?" Riley asked.

"We are still trying to pull records on that. We don't have anything yet. However, if she is a Goa'uld and has access to a ship, we want to capture that technology. Their knowledge could be a great benefit to our own military. Also if we can take the ship intact and she possesses one of the sarcophagi we could use that to heal Agent Forest."

"Also shortly after Ms. Wilkins disappeared from the Sunnydale hospital a post on an archaeology forum was uploaded from the Magic Box by Willow Rosenberg. It was asking for any legends regarding Ra, the Jaffa, and teleportation," Walsh said.

"Ma'am, I would like to approach Buffy. It is possible she was only trying to hide this because she thought we wouldn't know about the Goa'uld. If I can convince her to help we may be able to get the technologies without any problem. The reports indicate that only males were affected by Hathor. She could be trying to protect Mr. Giles and Xander. Also with the advanced technology of the Goa'uld, if there is a ship she may be worried about any orbital weapons that it has." Riley finally thought he understood what was really going on. He knew Buffy would do anything to protect her friends and family.

'Agent Finn, I will consider your request," Professor Walsh said. "In the meantime, I recommend you get something to eat. We will meet back here in one hour." Perfect, that will give him just enough time to worry about me granting his request. He is acting exactly as I predicted he would.

Riley nodded and left to get some food as he continued to go over possible operation plans in his head.

When Riley came back Professor Walsh looked at him and said, "After careful consideration, I have decided to allow you to approach Buffy. However, you are not allowed to let her know how much we are aware of. You can not discuss the specifics of Project Bluebook. You can let her know we are aware of Ra and the Goa'uld in general and we can assist her in freeing the others from the Goa'uld Faith. However, if she refuses to help I want you to prepare contingency plans to incapacitate them all. We can not allow a Goa'uld to remain free on Earth."

"Ma'am, yes Ma'am," Riley said. "I will start drawing up plans, although it may take a day or two unless we want to use a sniper to take out Faith."

"I want the Goa'uld brought in alive. There will be no snipers used against it. You are not authorized to use lethal force against the Goa'uld. If some in Ms. Summers group resist we may

have to use lethal force with them, but only as a last resort. From the reports, even if we kill one of them if we can recover the sarcophagus and their brain is intact we can recover them. That means we only need the Goa'uld alive." Walsh was very firm on her orders.

'Understood, Professor Walsh." Riley continued, "Have we determined whether Hostile Seventeen had a malfunctioning chip, or was the female an HST?"

"It appears the chip did malfunction. We released the female by having her dropped off at the local hospital. Since she never saw any of our teams, she presented no security risks," Walsh lied smoothly. Right now the girl was incarcerated in the secret labs. "I'm sure she would be grateful to you and your men if she knew the truth. That will be all, Agent Finn."

As Riley went to leave Walsh gave one final push, "And Riley, good luck with Buffy. I hope you're able to convince her to let us help."

After shopping the morning away the woman all returned to the Summers home. Faith had most of a new wardrobe. Joyce had to battle her newest daughter to get anything that wasn't skin tight. She had managed to win some of the battles. Faith had refused to get any dresses until Joyce pointed out that the right dress would have Xander drooling, and turn him into an incoherent puddle of goo. Faith had agreed and gotten one red dress that all of them agreed looked stunning on her.

Buffy, Willow, and Tara all headed back to the dorms together leaving Faith and Joyce alone. "Faith," Joyce began, "we need to talk about you finishing your schooling."

"Awe, shit," Faith groused. Seeing the reprimand coming she quickly added, "Sorry. But me and school don't get along. No way I'm going back to high school."

Joyce nodded. She and Rupert had talked about how to approach this with both Xander and Faith. "I understand that, Faith. I think we should concentrate on you passing your GED. Once you have that we can then look at college classes." hearing the first part of the statement Faith smiled; that would be alright. Hearing she should go to college was another matter.

"No way, I'm not smart enough for college. I ain't like Red and the others." Faith said.

"Faith Arlene Summers! You will not talk about yourself like that!" Joyce raised her voice as she corrected Faith. "You are very smart. But you haven't had the opportunity to develop your skills. Giles and I will work with you to make sure you are ready. And I happen to know that Giles is going to be pushing Xander to go to college as well. That means you could be with him. You could attend college together." Joyce smiled; now the trap was baited.

Faith thought about it for a minute. It could be cool, being with Boytoy at college. And if it would make Joyce happy that would be good too. Also, it would prove the Bitch wrong. She would show her she was worth something. But Faith knew she shouldn't give in too easily. "I'll think about college. Might want to talk to Boytoy first. See what he thinks, though."

Joyce smiled. "Good. I'm glad that's settled." She knew Xander would go, even if only to make sure that Faith went. He might not believe in himself but he would enroll for Faith. And Faith would want to be with Xander. "Besides with you going to college with Xander, you can scare off any girls who might try and poach him. Not that he would ever consider them, but it's always good to protect your claim." Joyce turned and went downstairs while Faith unpacked her new clothes. She knew Faith would be unable to resist the last reason. She wasn't going to be letting Xander go.

Buffy got back to her dorm room and was surprised to see a note taped to her door. She was happy to see it was from Riley. He said he needed to talk to her about what happened yesterday, and he was sorry for acting like an ass. "See Xander," she thought, "I told you Riley wasn't behind the men who attacked Faith."

After calling him she was happy to set up a dinner date for later this evening. Finally, things were starting to go right. She had a nice boyfriend who was kind and caring. She thought about studying but decided it would be better to visit Giles. Maybe Faith would be up for some sparring. Plenty of time to get ready for her date. What could go wrong?

John Anderson had managed to grab a few hours of sleep. He was worried about Kennedy, but he knew he would be no use to her if he was not thinking straight. The report that Slayer Lehane might still be alive, and a rogue as well, was very disconcerting. The fact that the former Watcher Giles was missing and his apartment had been attacked... well, that would mean he was probably still at large. John just wished he knew how to find him.

At ten in the morning, he finally received a return call from the council. Picking up the phone he said, "Anderson here."

"Watcher Anderson, this is Quentin Travers," Quentin said.

"Sir, it's good to hear from you. I take you have reviewed my report about what we have learned and the disappearance of the Slayer?" Anderson asked.

"Yes, we have. The council retrieval team should be in Sunnydale no later than two pm. You are to assist them in locating and apprehending both Slayer Lehane and the Harris boy. They will be brought back to London to face justice," Quentin said, full of self-righteous confidence. "I am ordering you to get those photos you mentioned developed and then I want you to make every effort to find Rupert Giles. He may be a disgrace of a watcher but he was once one of our own. He will also be the most likely source for information on what killed slayer Summers. If you are unable to locate him, I suggest you approach Mrs. Summers. Contrary to council policy, she was aware of her daughter's calling and should be willing to help apprehend her daughter's killers."

"Yes, sir. I will get right on that. Are there any suggestions on where to look for Mr. Giles? I am afraid I do not have much information about him," John asked.

"He recently purchased a small shop. It's called the Magic Box. I would recommend starting there. He may have left clues. You might find them inside," Quentin replied.

After hanging up John quickly left the motel room. He stopped at a small one-hour photo shop. Leaving the film with an order for multiple copies to be printed he began searching for the Magic Box.

Finally locating the store, John walked in and was surprised to see Rupert Giles standing inside.

"Good Morning. Welcome to the Magic Box. How may I assist you?" Giles asked.

John needed to make sure; it might be dangerous if this man had gone over. However, he had heard the scuttlebut: he was fired for caring too much about his slayer, not for being incompetent or corrupt. "Are you Rupert Giles?" he asked.

The man looked at him. "Yes I am. Have we met?"

"I'm John Anderson. I'm the watcher for slayer Kennedy DeSilva. I am surprised to find you here." John said trying to probe for information.

"Oh my," Giles started. "Was slayer DeSilva only called a few days ago?" he asked.

"Yes, I assume at the same time slayer Summers died," John replied. "I am sorry for your loss. I know how easy it is to come to care for our girls. I have been watching over Kennedy for the last eight years."

'Oh no, Buffy is not dead," Giles began. "No, I suspect that a new slayer was called because of a magical event."

"What?" John said. "How is this possible? And was the rogue slayer Lehane also part of this event?"

"Yes, and I am afraid your information is incorrect." Giles knew what the council would do if they could get a hold of Faith. "Slayer Lehane was never a rogue. We discovered she was under a geas placed upon her by the former Mayor. He needed someone to help ensure his ascension and targeted Slayer Lehane because she was the most vulnerable of the two. In fact, the ritual was designed to destroy the last remnants of the geas."

"You have proof of this?" John asked.

"I would be willing to testify under a magically binding oath. And we received the information originally from an agent of the Powers that Be," Giles replied.

"The Powers sent an agent to confirm this? Unbelievable. The powers almost never take a direct hand in these matters," John said. "I'm not much of a mage, but I know how to bind the oath. If you would be willing to give me your testimony, I can then report that to the council."

After administering the oath, John listened to Giles's testimony that Faith Lehane had been placed under a geas by the former Mayor of Sunnydale. They had been informed of the situation by the balance demon known as Whistler. From there they were able to perform a magic ceremony that broke the remnants of the geas. It appeared that Slayer Lehane had been fighting the effects already and was almost completely free from its bonds.

Giles also explained how they had found a contingency plan that the Mayor had put in place so that when slayer Lehane regained consciousness she would be forced to carry out his revenge. He then showed a videotape made by the man and a magical device they had intercepted.

John was amazed. The council must be informed immediately, and the retrieval teams orders altered. But first he needed to ask Giles for help. He quickly said, "My slayer Kennedy and I were sent to Sunnydale to determine what had killed the other slayers. Last night while investigating, Kennedy reported that she overheard a demon telling a tale about young Mr. Harris removing its arm with an unknown spell. It said that the Harris boy wasn't human. What can you tell me about that?"

Giles wasn't pleased to hear that the council had already found out about Xander. "Yes, it is not easy to explain. As a result of the ritual, Xander seems to have developed an ability to move objects from one place to another. We are unsure if this ability is temporary or not. We are currently investigating it. He doesn't have complete control of it at this time," Giles said. Hopefully, this would throw the council off.

"Thank you, Mr. Giles," John sincerely said. "I need your help. Last night, Slayer Kennedy went to your apartment. While inside, the apartment was attacked by men dressed in a military fashion. The last I saw of my slayer was her being taken out by these men. She was loaded into a van and transported somewhere. I tried to follow them, but I lost them near the local college." John paused, "Please, help me find my slayer?"

"Dear Lord," Giles exclaimed. "Are you certain of this?"

"Yes, in fact, I need to go pick up the pictures I took. They should be ready now. And I need to call the council; they need to be informed of what's happening," John answered.

"Then I would recommend you contact the council immediately. I wouldn't want them to make any mistakes concerning the safety of Faith or the others. In fact, if I know Quentin, he most likely already has a retrieval team en route. If they will assist us, we can see what we can find out together. We'll try to help you get your slayer back," Giles promised.

John nodded. "I'll call the council now. They need to be updated and they'll need to inform the teams of the change in plans."

Quentin was eating a late supper when his personal phone rang. He would have ignored it but he had given the number to Watcher Anderson in case there was a critical need to contact him.

Answering the phone he said, "Quentin Travers… Ah, Watcher Anderson, what do you have to report?"

The next twenty minutes of Quentin's life destroyed the previous feelings of joy he'd had upon learning of Lehane's and Summers' deaths. He was at first unwilling to believe the story about a geas, but upon learning that an agent of the Powers had given them the information... He knew better than to cross the Powers. Those who did suffered one of two fates: a quick painful death or a long pain filled life, hoping for the day they were finally allowed to die.

As much as it galled him to do it, Quentin knew he had to rescind the orders for now. Until they could figure out what the Powers wanted. "If only we could gain access to the Oracles. Then it would be easy to determine what to do."

The news of a ritual empowering the Harris boy was intriguing. "Find out all you can about the ritual," he ordered Anderson. "If there were a way to empower our people it could be a great boon to the council."

As Anderson hung up, Quentin quickly contacted the retrieval team. He altered their orders to observe and assist under the command of Watcher Anderson. Looking at the remains of his dinner, Quentin realized he had completely lost his appetite.


	18. Chapter 18

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.  
_

Chapter 18

As Xander returned to the shop, Giles was relieved. Anderson had just left to go and retrieve the photos he had taken. Giles quickly told him about what he had learned: that there was at least one new slayer, and the Council was aware of Xander's ability to move objects through teleportation. Both men agreed that it would be best to limit the Council's knowledge.

They also realized they needed to contact the others so that no one would slip up around Anderson. Giles called Joyce; once he reached her he explained the situation. She, in turn, gave him the new cell numbers for Willow and Tara. She also let him know she would tell Faith what was happening and try to get a hold of Buffy.

Unfortunately, the phones were not answered. Whether that was because they were still charging or the girls had left them behind was hard to say. Xander volunteered to try and track them down. If he could orb to them, then it would be good practice in case the worst were to ever happen.

He decided to try Willow first. He tried to see her or feel her. He wasn't sure how this really worked. Once he got a sort of feeling for where she was he could really only get glimpses of darkness, then Tara's face. "I wonder if she's dreaming?" He thought. Well, it should be fine.

As Xander orbed in, he started to speak, "Hey, Willow, have you seen Tara…"

Willow was naked on a bed and so was Tara. The small part of his mind told him, "See it's true, they're both naturals. The other part started going "I am so dead but at least I didn't orb in on a naked Buffy."

Willow was in heaven, or a very close proximity. Then she heard something. Something that was impossible. She heard Xander. But he couldn't be here, not now. Her eyes snapped open and looking down she saw Tara whose eyes had also become wide with surprise. Standing in the room looking at them was Xander. "Alexander Lavelle Giles!" she screamed, "You are so dead!"

Xander got one word out as he orbed out in fear for his life: "Buffy."

Xander rematerialized and noticed several things. One, he was wet. Two, he had orbed to Buffy. Three, Buffy was taking a shower. Four, Buffy was very naked and was not a natural blonde. Five, Buffy looked very, very angry. In fact, her fist was coming towards him. He did the only thing he could think of: he orbed.

Faith had finished putting up her new clothes. She was in fact just getting changed. She was pulling on a shirt when the blue light of Xander's orbing started. She looked and saw a dripping wet Xander Harris in her room. He looked around with wild eyes. She wasn't sure what was going on but she knew Xander didn't panic in a dangerous situation, so this wasn't something that could kill her. Rather than guess, she asked. "Boytoy, why are you dripping wet standing in my room?"

Xander looked for a moment, seemed to calm himself, then said, "I was trying to get ahold of Willow and Tara. So I uh tried to orb to them. Like I did to find you last night."

"And how did that get you soaking wet?" Faith asked.

"Well, it didn't uh when I orbed to Willow she and uh Tara were ah.."

"They were having some hot steamy sex?" Faith prompted in a sultry voice. This looked to be epic.

"Ah yeah, um I mean they were naked. And then Willow screamed and I was thinking "good thing I didn't orb into a naked Buffy," but Willow startled me and I orbed again. And then I was in a shower, with Buffy, and she was naked. And her fist was coming towards me. And I orbed again and was here in your room. Where at least I didn't come in when you were naked," Xander finished describing his misadventure.

Faith had started snickering at the mention of Buffy and was now rolling on her bed from laughing. Joyce, hearing the sound came to investigate. Once Faith got control of herself, she explained, "Boytoy tried to orb to Willow, she and Tara were getting busy. He panicked and orbed to Buffy, who was in the shower. He panicked again and orbed here."

Joyce stared in disbelief. "Is this true, Xander?" Xander shook his head yes. "Well, I don't know whether to be upset or pleased. After all, you didn't include me on your trip to see all of the women you know naked." Joyce had a playful smile on her lips as Xander stammered and blushed. Faith just laughed harder.

"Xander, go get changed into something dry. I have a feeling that the girls will be looking for you, very soon," Joyce said.

By the time Xander came back upstairs, an outraged slayer and two equally outraged witches had already called the house. Joyce took the time to tell them what was so important that Xander had orbed in on them like that, but all three swore vengeance. Xander had walked in on them naked; there would be humiliation to compensate them.

"Don't worry too much, Xander," Joyce said. "After all," she paused, "what's the worst that can happen?" Xander stared at Joyce in horror. She had invoked Murphy. Oh God, he was soo dead. Joyce seeing his look and knowing why, laughed. "Don't worry, Xander. I'm sure it will all work out."

Yeah, Xander thought. That's what I'm afraid of.

A short time later a still very angry slayer and two equally upset witches met. "He has to pay!" Buffy said.

"Humiliation and loads of emotional pain!" Willow agreed.

"But how can we do that?" Tara asked. "What would be a good enough revenge?"

Buffy was thinking of everything she knew about Xander. She could recall all the times he had helped her, but one of them jumped out at her. "Hey Willow, did Xander ever tell you about the job he took last summer in Oxnard?"

"No, what job?"

"Well, I don't know the details because he swore he would never tell, but he apparently worked at 'The Fabulous Ladies Night Club.' I think it's only fair that since he got a show from us we should get one from him," Buffy said.

"Oh, and we could invite a few other friends, like Cordelia and your Mom and Faith," Willow said enthusiastically. "In fact, I bet we could get the club to let us rent it out for a small private party."

Tara was nodding. This was good. Not too evil but just enough. Xander had to learn, brother or not, you didn't walk in on your sister and her wife.

"And what if at the end of his dance, for some reason the strings on his G-string were to snap?" Buffy asked. "Pure coincidence, because it's not like someone can do that with the power, right? Then I would say we have had our revenge!"

As the girls laughed and started making plans, elsewhere Xander felt a foreboding chill run up his spine. He knew, he was so dead.

When he arrived at the Magic Box with Faith and Joyce, he wasn't surprised to see the three women waiting for him. As he entered Willow spoke. "Sit, Xander!" Once he was seated she continued. "You did something to all of us today that demands payback. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Well, it depends on the payback. Are you talking actual death or just lots of pain?" Xander replied.

"Oh no, death is too easy, Mister," Willow said. Buffy and Tara both nodded. Joyce and Faith were having a hard time not laughing. "We have talked it over and decided that there is a way we will forgive you. But you have to promise that for one night you will do whatever we say. No questions asked, no take-backs."

"You're scaring me, Will," Xander said.

"Fine. We will even let Joyce and Faith be there so you know it won't kill you. Now do you agree or not?" Tara said. They had agreed that coming from Tara, he would think that was a huge concession.

Xander looked at the three, "You promise Joyce and Faith will both be there and you won't kill me or cause permanent bodily damage?" The three woman nodded. "Alright, I promise for one night I will do whatever you guys want. So is it tonight you want me to be your slave?"

Buffy revealed an evil smile. "Oh, no, Xander. It's in two weeks. We've rented the Fabulous Ladies Night Club for a night, and you're going to be the main attraction." All three of the women were smiling. Faith and Joyce were laughing out loud.

Xander felt the blood drain out of his face, "No, not that. Kill me but not that."

"Xander, since you got a free show from all of us, we think it's only fair that you give us one in return," Tara said.

Xander looked like a kicked puppy, "How could you, Tara? I'm your brother now. Where is the sticking up for each other?"

"Well, maybe my brother won't orb in on me and my wife next time," Tara said.

"But you and Willow are gay, why would you want to make me dance?" Xander was hoping he could change their minds.

"Hey, we figured this would make sure you never forgot the lesson. And just because you're not on the menu, we figured we, well I can still admire the cut of meat. Plus Faith, Joyce, and Buffy can really enjoy the show. Tara will just be enjoying the sibling rivalry."

Xander turned to his last hope. "Joyce, please say no. You know that this is such a bad thing. Help me, please."

Joyce had finally stopped laughing out loud. "Actually, Xander, I think this is very fair. After all, you did see all three of them naked, and you at least will have a g-string on." Xander knew he had lost. Why oh why was he still the universe's butt monkey?  
_

John Anderson returned to the Magic Box. He was surprised to see the closed sign on the door but when he knocked Mr. Giles opened it. Inside there were quite a few people. "Mr. Giles, is there a reason for so many people to be present?"

Giles nodded. "Indeed there is. Each of these people brings certain skills and talents to the table. We have the slayers Buffy and Faith Summers. The witches are Willow Rosenberg and her girlfriend, my daughter Tara. And of course my son, Xander."

Everyone had decided earlier that it would be best not to even try and hide the family relationships. If they did, when the Council eventually found out it would cause more problems than it was worth.

"Wait, why are you calling both the slayers Summers? And I thought that was Mr. Harris," John asked. Since he did not know anything of Mr. Giles past he did not question the relationship with Tara.

"Yes, when we were investigating what happened with Faith, we discovered that she was, in fact, the daughter of Joyce Summers. I am unable to give you the details; however, I am sure the Council could prevail upon the American Government to explain." Giles continued, "As for Xander, I discovered that his mother was actually an old girlfriend of mine from my, shall we say, wilder days of youth. We ended up recently confirming that he was, in fact, my son."

"In fact, due to how all of these things were revealed to us," Giles paused, "We all truly believe a higher power had a hand in this."

"You think the Powers that Be have been orchestrating things?" John asked. "Amazing. We know from the records that they will sometimes do that. But to see, well, I am sorry to say it brings to mind the Chinese Curse."

Giles shook his head in agreement. "Yes, I quite agree. But since we live on a Hellmouth I think that it has been a blessing."

Buffy called out, "Giles, what's this curse he's talking about?"

"'May you live in interesting times'," John replied. "To some, it was a blessing; to others, a curse; but it meant your life would never be boring."

Everyone agreed with the truth of that statement. They also agreed that some boredom would be a nice change.

Giles turned to John. "Did you bring the photos with you?" John held out several packets that contained the photos. As they were going through them the group recognized Spike being carted away. Most of the photos had the faces of the men covered. But as they had been getting ready to drive away one of the photos showed a familiar face.

"Buffy, Riley was there," Willow said. After everything that had happened to Faith the night before, she had hoped for her friend that he would not have been involved.

"You recognize one of these men?" John asked.

Giles answered, "Yes. This young man has recently started dating Buffy. We had recently learned he was part of a government group capturing demons and vampires to study them. Whilst he is aware of the creatures of darkness he is not aware of magic, so we have found there are certain things we could not tell him. Yesterday he was extremely insulting to all of us because of the relationships that he learned of."

"Riley asked me to go to dinner with him tonight. He left a message saying how sorry he was. Now, what am I going to do?" Buffy asked. She really wished her Mom were here, but everyone agreed it was better to keep Joyce's talents hidden for now.

"I think you should go on the date, Buffy," Xander said. "If we can get information from him we'll know where we stand and where he stands."

"Oh, you could be like Mata Hari, seducing men with your feminine wiles. Only without the sex part," Willow said, excited by the idea. "And really it would only be one man not lots of men. Because well you're not a slut." Willow blushed as she realized that she had said that out loud.

"What we need is something to make him tell you everything," Xander said. "Is it possible that you girls could whip up a potion or spell that would do that? Or maybe Dad or Mr. Anderson knows something that would work."

"We can try to find something. But we'll have to go do some research. How long do we have before your date, Buffy?" Willow asked.

"Riley was supposed to pick me up at the dorms at seven, but I could call him and have him come to the house instead," Buffy said. She really didn't know what to think, but it looked like Riley had tried to attack Giles. "With the wards on the house, it might be safest to meet him there."

"That gives us just over five hours to come up with something," Tara said. "The only problem I see is he's going to know we questioned him afterward unless you are really careful."

"The Council had sent one of their teams to help find out what happened here. They were going to determine what had killed the slayers. Since they will be here soon, I would like to suggest we use them to watch over Slayer Summers while she's out with this Riley," John said.

No one was happy to be reminded of the team from the Watcher's Council. They could recall the last time one had come to town. However, since another young girl's life was in danger they wouldn't turn away anyone who could help.

Tara and Willow left for the Summers house. They called Joyce so she would be waiting for them. As they were leaving John received a call. The Council's team had arrived. John gave them directions to the Magic Box and twenty minutes later they had arrived. As Xander watched them come in he recognized them for the soldiers they were. The way they moved screamed special forces. The fact that they were all English said most likely SAS. The head of the team was introduced as Captain Chandler.

Sitting down together the two groups tried to come up with the best plan to accomplish their goal. After looking at all the options they came up with several.

"It boils down to a few things. If those witches of yours can come up with a spell or a potion, we can try using that on the bloke. If they can't we have sodium thiopental which may work. It's hit or miss really. I would almost recommend we try both. Although depending on the answers we receive we may need to consider having him disappear," Captain Chandler said.

"We're not killing him!" Buffy said.

"We're not talking about killing him. Just making sure he's out of the way until we are able to rescue the slayer," Captain Chandler replied.

"Buffy, if he has helped kidnap an innocent girl, he is hardly innocent," Giles added.

"I think it would be best if we set up surveillance outside of Buffy's house. Two teams at either end of the street. One man inside. With the slayer inside, once he has entered the building we can try to drug him and you shouldn't have any problem capturing him," Chandler said.

"Dad, Faith and I can be downstairs. Buffy, when he gets there, we can have your Mom offer him something to drink. If we can get him to drink the drug, it will slow him down even more. Then we use the spell or potion on him, whichever we can come up with." Xander continued, "If Tara and Willow are there, you can say they were helping you get ready. Faith is out on a date with me. That way we have all the backup we can manage close at hand."

Buffy reluctantly agreed. She knew they had to find out the truth and Riley had the information they needed to have.

"Buffy, one thing. If it turns out Kennedy gets killed, because of something he did, we can't let him get away with that," Xander said. He knew Buffy didn't want to think about that but better to prepare her now in case the worst happened.

"You'd kill him, Xander?" Buffy asked, trying to confirm what Xander was saying.

"No. I would," Interrupted Captain Chandler. "If this man has caused the death of a slayer through his team's attack I and my men will see to it that he pays for it." Chandler took a deep breath. "We know what the slayers fight, and we can't help them as much as we would like. But my men and I have all had to kill before, whether for Queen and Country or to help protect the world from those humans who would end it. We will end his life if necessary. I won't let you or your group take the responsibility for this."

After discussing everything it was barely four in the afternoon. "Buffy, might I suggest that you and Faith train for the next hour. That should help you burn off some of your nervous energy."

Faith called out to Buffy, "Ready to finally get your ass kicked, Sis?"

"How? There's only one of you," Buffy replied. "You're going to need lots more people for you to do that."

As the two slayers walked into the back room, Chandler, his team and Anderson all asked if they could watch the training. Both Buffy and Faith were fine with the chance to show off.

Everyone who watched Buffy and Faith were amazed. Xander and Giles, who had seen the two practicing together before, were stunned at the difference. Neither of them had really noticed the changes in the two. Slayers when fighting were violent poetry in motion. The girls started off at a normal speed, moving to dodge each other's blows or catch the other in a counter move. Slowly, as they forgot their audience, the two became faster. The strikes became harder. By the time they had been going at each other for twenty minutes they were moving at speeds no human could hope to match.

"Jesus and the Sainted Mother," one of the Council team members said. "I knew the slayers were tougher and faster than normal humans, but never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined something like this."

The other men could only agree. Anderson, who had seen Kennedy practicing only once since she became a slayer, knew these two were far above her in power. "How is this possible?" he asked.

Giles wisely chose not to answer him. He remembered the cleansing and the oaths they had taken. Better to let the other watcher try to come up with his own excuse.

After almost forty-five minutes the spar ended. Faith blocked a strike from Buffy, it was off, just enough for Buffy's follow up kick to take her down. As she pinned Faith to the ground she crowed, "Well, little sis, looks like experience wins. Better luck next time."

Faith grumbled from the ground. "What was that?" Buffy asked. "Why, yes. Yes, I am just that good." She then did something unbelievable for those watching who didn't grow up with siblings. She gave Faith a wet willy.

Faith screamed bloody murder. Buffy laughed and got up. Faith standing up said, "You realize this means war? Once I win you will be receiving payback!"

Buffy smiled, "But you'd have to win to do that." Then she stuck out her tongue. Both young women seemed to agree, without saying anything, that this rivalry would only be on the training mat. Both were surprised that they no longer felt the overriding need to prove they were better than the other.

"Well I think it would be a good idea to have everyone get to their places," Giles said. Everyone knew what their parts were.

"Yeah, And I so need a shower before Riley gets to the house," Buffy said.

Faith added, "I would help if you have a shower here, G." They headed out hoping they would be able to recover the missing slayer.

Riley was feeling good. He and the Professor had a plan. She had even encouraged him to try and win Buffy over. That was a little surprising because Riley had thought that Professor Walsh really didn't like Buffy.

Buffy had called him early in the afternoon and asked that he pick her up at her Mom's house. She said she wanted to look her best and it was so much easier to get ready there than in the dorms.

Pulling up in front of the Summers home, Riley got out and went to the front door. As he knocked he went over the plans for this evening. He had a nice dinner planned and then he would take the chance to talk to her about getting away from the Goa'uld.

The door was opened by Buffy's Mom. A part of him noticed how attractive she was. Looking at her it was hard to believe that this woman had to be in her early forties. She barely looked thirty, if that. She smiled at him as she opened the door. "You must be Riley. Buffy said you would be here to pick her up." She stood aside and allowed him to enter.

After he entered she said, "Please sit down. I'm afraid that Buffy is still getting ready. She was very excited about tonight. I'm so pleased she finally got you here so we could meet."

Riley looked around the house. It seemed to be a very nice place. On the counter in the kitchen, he could see a half drunken glass of ice tea. "I'm sorry, I hope I didn't interrupt you."

Joyce smiled. Getting up she grabbed her glass and proceeded to pour a new glass for Riley. Handing it to him she said, "Nonsense. I was just going to be home alone tonight. I'm afraid both my girls are going on dates tonight. Xander picked up Faith to take her out a while ago. And, well, I'm sure you have plans for tonight that don't include hanging out with Buffy's mother."

She watched him as he drank some of the tea. "Please, tell me about yourself. Buffy says you're a teaching assistant for one of her professors."

Riley wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew he should keep a low profile. Taking a drink he replied, "Yes, Ma'am. I'm a teaching assistant for Professor Walsh." He sipped his drink again. "In fact, that's how I met Buffy. She is in the Intro to Psychology class." He drank again. It was really good tea.

"And do you enjoy working with Professor Walsh?" Joyce asked.

"Yes, Ma'am. It's hard work but I think it really is worth the effort." Riley drank again. The glass of tea was almost completely gone. "This is really good. May I have another glass?"

Joyce smiled, "Of course. Let me get that for you." She got up and refilled his glass. "So what are your plans for Buffy tonight?"

"Well I was planning on a taking her to a nice place for dinner," Riley began. "Then afterwards I was going to take her someplace private so we could talk."

"Really, young man, is that what you're calling it? 'A Talk'?" Joyce said.

"Oh no, Ma'am, really, I just wanted to talk with Buffy tonight," Riley protested.

"Oh? About what?" Joyce asked.

"Well, mainly about how I know that Faith is really a Goa'uld and get her to understand we can help her and her friends escape from it." He drank again. "I also wanted to get her help in capturing its ship and technology."

"How do you know about the Goa'uld? And if Buffy didn't agree to help you, what then?" Joyce prodded him.

"Professor Walsh showed me the mission reports for Stargate Command. The explained how we have been fighting the Goa'uld since they reopened the Stargate. If Buffy didn't agree to help, then we would have teams ready to take everyone down. Even if one of you died it would be ok. The Goa'uld technology can bring you back." Riley smiled as he talked.

If Riley had been capable of rational thought right now he would have been horrified at the secrets he was telling. Luckily for the Scoobies, Tara's Book of Shadows contained a recipe for a potion that put people into a "truthful dreaming" state. Riley wouldn't even remember talking about anything once they were done. One of the downsides of the potion was only one person, the person who started asking the questions, could get the recipient to answer.

Joyce paused for a moment and called for everyone to come to the main room. Once everyone was there she told them what Riley had said. "Riley, did I leave anything out?" she asked.

Riley smiled. This was the weirdest dream. "Well, we also know Faith has some cloaking technology because of what she did last night."

"Ask him if they were trying to kill Faith last night," Xander said from where he was holding Faith.

After Joyce repeated the question, Riley responded, "Only because we couldn't capture her. I knew professor Walsh would want to dissect her, so I really wanted to capture her alive at first."

"Mrs. Summers," Captain Chandler began. He had been introduced to Joyce when it became clear that any of the others would rouse too much suspicion to drug Riley. "Please ask him about the other slayer."

"Riley what about the other slayer? What can you tell me about her?" Joyce asked.

Riley looked confused. "There's no other slayer. Only Buffy can be the slayer. I listened to what they said: 'One Girl in All the World.'"

Joyce clarified, "Last night you and your men attacked Mr. Giles's apartment. Why did you do that? And where did you take the people inside?"

Riley nodded, "Yes we did. We knew Harris and the HST Faith were inside, so we attempted to capture them. When we went inside, Hostile Seventeen was feeding on a girl. We took her back to base."

"What? How was Spike feeding?" Buffy asked.

"Where is Kennedy now?" Anderson asked.

"Riley, do you know where the girl is now? And do you know how Spike could feed off of her?" Joyce asked.

"The girl was dropped off at the hospital sometime this morning. Who's Spike?" Riley answered.

"We need to check the hospital's immediately," Anderson said. Chandler signaled one of his two man teams to do that.

"Try referring to Spike as Hostile Seventeen and ask him again. Also, ask if he dropped Kennedy off at the hospital in person," Giles recommended.

"Riley, how could Hostile Seventeen feed on the girl? And did you drop the girl off at the hospital or did someone else?" Joyce prompted.

"Professor Walsh said the chip malfunctioned. Someone else dropped the girl off at the hospital." He smiled and drank more tea. "Could I have some more please?"

"Of course, Riley," Joyce said with a smile. "Who told you that the girl was going to the hospital?"

"Professor Walsh. She said she had already had her dropped off, as soon as we found out she was just a normal human," Riley replied.

"Anything else we should ask him right now?" Giles asked.

"Yes, ask him about his contingency plans if Buffy didn't agree to help him," Chandler said.

"Riley, what were you planning to do if Buffy said no?"

"Well, we knew we could take her and Willow out in school. Just wait until after a class and have professor Walsh ask them to stay behind. Mr. Giles is often alone in his store so a four-man team would take him out. We know Xander lives with his parents so they would take him out as he left for work. And you, Ma'am, we thought we would take you out at your gallery, just like Mr. Giles. We just needed to be careful not to do anything in front of the Goa'uld."

"And if we were too difficult to take out?" Joyce asked. "What about if Faith isn't a Goa'uld?"

"Well, then we would kill you," Riley said with a dreamy smile. "We would have to figure out what she is so that we can capture and kill her."

"I'm voting let them keep thinking Faith is an alien," Xander said. "At least until we can get rid of them." The others agreed. At least that way they would know how the Initiative would react.

"Mom, ask him why he is dating me. I want to know what he really thinks about me," an insecure Buffy said. After her past failures, she was starting not to trust her judgment with men.

Joyce began, "I don't think it's a good use of magic to ask Riley what he really thinks of you, Buffy."

Riley started speaking, "I like Buffy. She's pretty and has a lot of fire. She's not very smart, though, and refuses to listen to people who know better than her. She never makes anything beyond a minimal effort to plan her encounters with the HSTs. And she really thinks that because she's this chosen one she should be in charge. She would be a lot happier if she would just do what I tell her to do, but she thinks she knows everything. And it's really annoying the way she mangles words. I mean it was cute at first, but after that, it's just plain annoying. I know she's smarter than that. And does she really think that dye job is fooling anyone? She's at best a dirty blonde but she keeps trying to pretend she's a real blonde. But she has a great body, I'm looking forward to when we have sex."

Riley probably would have kept going, but Joyce, fearing for his safety, interrupted him. "Riley, I want you to just hold on a minute. You should be leaving soon and you're going to have a great time tonight." Joyce turned to the others. "What do we want him to remember?"

"How about how I kicked his ass to the curb!" an angry Buffy growled.

"No," Chandler began. "He convinced Buffy to let him help, but she will need a few days. Faith is watching too closely. Then she agreed to help lure Faith into a trap, so that they can capture her. She'll call him as soon as she can. I will try to get additional help from the Council. They may be able to help with his group. Also, if possible have him tell us everything he knows about how his base is protected. What kind of security and guards they have."

"Riley, before you and Buffy leave, would you tell me about your base? How many ways are there to get into it? What are the guards like?" Joyce asked. Riley smiled and began telling them everything he knew as one of the highest ranking soldiers in the Initiative.

When he was finished, Joyce told Riley, "Riley, you had such a good time tonight. You and Buffy drove over to Oxnard to make sure you wouldn't be interrupted. Buffy listened to everything you had to say and agreed to help you. She was relieved that you had figured out what was happening. Buffy said it may take a few days, but she would help lure Faith into a trap. You know you just have to be patient. Two or three days and you will be able to capture Faith."

Riley smiled a big smile. "That's great. Professor Walsh will be really surprised this worked, but she'll like the plan."

"What do we do with him now?" Anderson asked.

"Well, they need to stay out until Buffy would have ended the date. So I suggest we drive him to Oxnard and Buffy waits there with him, then comes back and drops him off at the university," Chandler said.

"What? You mean I have to spend the evening with this jerk?" Buffy exclaimed.

"Hey, how about Tara and Willow go with you?" Xander said. "I think it's too dangerous for Faith to be out right now. Otherwise, we could go with you. He's going to be out of it for at least another three hours and we don't want them finding out what happened."

"Fine, but as soon as we can I am so kicking him in the balls!" Buffy declared.

All the men in the room cringed at the thought of an angry slayer kicking a man in the crotch.

Tara, Willow, and Buffy left with Riley. As they were driving, Buffy said, "Since we'll be in Oxnard I want to check out the Fabulous Ladies Night Club. See exactly what we will have to work with. And we can confirm the date for a reservation." Tara and Willow didn't look very enthusiastic about Buffy's idea, but both thought after everything else Buffy deserved to win this one.

Once Buffy, Willow, Tara, and Riley had left, Captain Chandler turned to the remaining people and said, "Would you like to tell me what you know about these aliens that boy was talking about? And don't try to deny it, I saw your reactions. You were surprised he thought Faith was one, not surprised to hear that the U.S. Government has a program to explore other worlds."

Anderson was shocked; he hadn't picked up on the difference. But based on the looks the others were giving one another he believed the Captain's challenge.

"Actually, no, I do not believe we would like to explain," Giles stated, "since none of us work for the Council anymore. And since it is not pertinent to the calling of a slayer you really have no need for the information. Outside of those facts, our information is that the Goa'uld were driven from Earth over five thousand years ago."

"Mr. Giles, we are supposed to be working together. If you can not share this information how can we trust you?" Anderson asked.

"Do you really think any of us trust the Council? If it weren't for the fact that they now know Faith's actions were vouched for by the Powers, I have no doubt that Captain Chandler's men would have attempted to kill or capture Faith and the rest of us," Giles said. "Additionally, in the past, the Council has withheld vital information that could have resulted in multiple deaths."

As Giles finished speaking Chandler was checking his phone. "Slayer Kennedy was never admitted to the local hospital. No females were admitted today matching her description."

Xander looked at the men in front of him. While they weren't the allies he wanted they were what he had. "Look, right now we need each other. We need to figure out how to get Kennedy back, and how to protect Faith, because if the Government starts going after slayers it could mean we miss stopping an Apocalypse. We've got forty-eight to seventy-two hours to see what we can do."

"I'll be calling the Council. I will inform them of everything we have learned. It is possible that they may be able to have Her Majesty's Government help us secure the release of Slayer DeSilva. We may need to hint that we know about this Stargate program to get them to back off. I am also going to request additional teams be sent here. If it became an actual fight they have more men than we do." Captain Chandler finished speaking. He did not look happy about anything he had learned tonight. And he was not looking forward to his call with Travers. The man never took someone saying "No" to him well.  
_

Riley stumbled into his room and got undressed. Tonight had gone better than he could ever expect. Buffy was going to work with the team to capture the Goa'uld. As he closed his eyes to sleep he thought of how Professor Walsh would be pleased about this.


	19. Chapter 19

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.  
_

Chapter 19 _  
Riley woke up feeling slightly hung over. Didn't think I drank that much last night, he thought. Getting up, he quickly grabbed a shower and dressed. Time to tell Professor Walsh the good news he thought, as he headed down to the underground base.

Heading to Professor Walsh's office, he paused outside of her door and knocked.

"Enter," Professor Walsh called from inside. Entering the room Riley saw the Professor was going over some notes with one of the other Doctors. "One moment Agent Finn, we're almost done here." Riley nodded.

Once the other doctor had left, Professor Walsh turned to him. "I take it you've come to report on how last night went?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Riley said, "I picked up Buffy at around nineteen hundred hours. We went to Oxnard to ensure privacy. I was able to approach her about the situation."

"What was her reaction?" Walsh asked.

"Relieved, Ma'am," Riley said. Walsh was shocked but didn't show it outwardly. "She seemed relieved that I was offering help. In fact, she agreed to help us capture the Goa'uld. However, she did mention that Faith is very paranoid and it might take two to three days to help set something up."

"You told her about the Goa'uld?" Walsh asked. "And she was relieved to find out you knew about it."

"Yes, Ma'am. Per our earlier conversations I knew I would need to exhibit superior knowledge to ensure she would accept our help," Riley responded. He tried to remember all the details but they were a bit fuzzy.

Professor Walsh was thinking. Her profile of Buffy Summers indicated that if their guesses were right she still wouldn't accept help. She had an Alpha personality that insisted she be in charge, even when she wasn't the best person to lead. So what was really going on here?

"Agent Finn, good work. I want you to write up a full report. When will you be contacting Buffy again?" She asked.

"Buffy said she would call me as soon as she could. But she has to be careful not to draw too much attention to herself so it may not be until tomorrow." Riley responded.

"I want that report on my desk by this afternoon," Walsh ordered. "Good work, agent Finn." Walsh hoped that the report would tell her what was going on because something was not adding up. "Continue monitoring the group, but take no actions for now." Riley nodded and left.

As Riley left Walsh turned back to the report Angleman had brought her. The young woman they had captured was an amazing find. She possessed superhuman healing abilities. Having been almost completely drained by HST 17 she expected her to have a long recovery. But she had recovered in short order. In fact, she would have already woken up if it was not for the drugs they were giving her. And even with those drugs, the dosage was off. She was being fed enough drugs to kill five men and her body was still fighting them off.

Angleman had requested permission for stress testing. They wanted to see what this HST could really take. Everything from extremes of hot and cold to oxygen deprivation. She was fine with authorizing the tests. She did caution him to have medical on stand by; she didn't want to lose the specimen.  
_

Mornings in the Summers house were getting crowded. Everyone was there, including the new Watcher and Captain Chandler. Eating, they talked about any new developments since last night. Considering it had been less than ten hours earlier there were not many.

"I made my report to the Council last night. They were not pleased that you lot have information you're not sharing. However, the majority of the Council voted to assist you in the hopes that we can recover the Slayer," Chandler said.

"Boy, they're not happy with us?" Buffy snarked, "I don't know how I'll live with their disappointment."

"Buffy, please remember we don't need to antagonize the Council," Giles said. "What kind of aid are they offering?"

"It appears that they will be sending three representatives to talk with Her Majesty and the Prime Minister. They, in turn, will try to arrange the release of Slayer DeSilva."

"Will they be helping to get these nut jobs to back off of Faith?" Xander asked.

"No," Chandler said. "While they will not bring her back to face a trial, they also feel that since they are not aware of the Powers plans, they do not want to interfere." He paused, "Although several stated that if young Mr. Giles would be willing to work for them, and turn over the information on the Goa'uld they would be willing to reconsider."

"Those bastards!" Surprisingly the curse came from Anderson. "We are talking the survival of a slayer, and they want to play games?" Chandler looked like he wanted to agree.

"John, Captain Chandler, I am afraid you are both seeing what we have seen for years," Giles said. "The Council Remains, The Slayer Changes. This has been the motto of the Council for more than a century. They in my opinion place no value on the individual slayers' lives, except in how they can and will serve the Council's goals. But for both your sakes, do not let them know you think less of them. They will remove you if they suspect you are not utterly loyal to them."

Neither man commented on what Giles said. Both seemed to be contemplating the implications of what they had just heard.

"So what are we planning to do today?" Willow asked. "Buffy and I have some class work to finish, but we can do that anywhere."

"I need to get to the Gallery, I've been neglecting it lately," Joyce said.

"Willow and I will go with you, Mom," Buffy said. "Remember, no one goes anywhere alone until we have made sure it's safe."

"I believe Tara, Xander, Faith and myself will be at the Magic Box today," Giles said.

"I have my men scouting for the entrances to the base that the wanker Finn talked about. We'll also be waiting for any other contact from the Council. We need to make sure that none of us are seen together by this initiative group. I would recommend that we keep all contact to a minimum for the next few days. If we need to meet we'll have Anderson come by the Magic Box. He will raise less suspicion than any of my men."

"Alright, then we will expect to hear from you through Watcher Anderson, However, if we find out something you need to know immediately, how shall we contact you?"

Chandler thought for a moment. "The motel we're in is pretty damn run down. If Faith and Xander pretend to be getting a room, they could make contact." Joyce didn't look happy at that suggestion. But she could see the logic. "I'm in the Sunnydale Arms, room 17." Xander and Faith nodded.

Everyone finished their breakfast and headed out. Joyce, Buffy and Willow to the gallery, the rest to the Magic Box. Once there, Giles asked Xander how he was progressing on his work of writing down his encounter with Shemp.

"Almost done," Xander said as he was writing at the table. He had two yellow legal notepads with him. One was almost completely full with what he remembered from encountering Shemp. The other had various notes he was keeping. Doodles and questions as they occurred to him. Ripping the paper off he cursed as it ripped almost completely in two. Putting the paper to the side he began re-organizing his thoughts. It took another thirty minutes to finish everything.

Handing the stack of papers to Giles he said, "That's everything I remember. Hopefully, it'll help."

Giles took the papers. "Xander, why don't you and Faith go out for a bit. After last night I feel it would be best for her not to be stuck here. In fact, I might recommend you go out to someplace secluded and both practice your abilities. She should be working on her invisibility and you on your offensive orbing."

Xander looked at Faith, "You game, Faith?"

"Sure, let's go play in the woods," Faith replied. "Just let me hit the head before we go." She grabbed the ripped paper to read what Xander had been doing. She was curious, after reading some of the comments she laughed to herself. "Wouldn't you like to know, Boytoy?" She said to herself as she finished in the bathroom. Balling up the paper she tossed it in the trash.

"Good idea. Using the woods is not one of my favorite things," Xander said. "Maybe we can grab something for lunch and we'll make a picnic out of it."

As the two of them left Giles was reading the account Xander had made of everything he had experienced with Shemp.

Putting down the papers and turning to the customers Giles said, "Welcome to the Magic Box. Please feel free to browse, and if you need any assistance me or Tara here would be happy to help you."

The woman spoke first. "Thank you, we just wanted to browse. But I must say I think you're the first English accent I heard today. It is an English accent, right?"

Well, at least she didn't call me Australian, Giles thought. "Oh yes, it is. Excuse me for my manners. Rupert Giles, owner of the Magic Box," Giles introduced himself.

At hearing his name the man seemed surprised. "Dr. Rupert Giles? Of the British Museum?"

Giles looked at him. He didn't think he knew the man but something seemed familiar. "Well, yes, several years ago I did work at the museum."

"Dr. Giles, I don't know if you will remember me after all this time. I'm Daniel Jackson. We used to write each other. You were a great sounding board for my theories. And I really am sorry after you proved you were right about my presenting them I stopped writing," Daniel said.

"Oh bollocks," Giles exclaimed. Giles realized why the two of them seemed familiar. He had just read about the vision the other Xander had had. Daniel was obviously the man in glasses. And the blonde woman must be the woman. Everyone looked surprised at Giles' outburst, although in Tara's case it was due to his unusual outburst. "I do apologize, Daniel. That was not directed at you. A new friend of my sons has a habit of surprising us. Something he did recently just made sense. And I am afraid I just connected the dots so to speak. It really has nothing to do with you," Giles lied.

"Dad, do you mean Xander's friend Shemp?" Tara asked. She wondered what these people could have to do with Shemp.

"Yes, I could almost wish that he was not so friendly. But over all he hasn't done any harm," Giles replied. Turning to Daniel, Giles asked, "Daniel, delighted to finally meet you in person. But come, you must sit down and we can chat. Perhaps I could offer you and Ms…?"

"Carter, Samantha Carter," Sam introduced herself. "But please call me Sam."

"Ah yes, perhaps I could offer you both some tea?" Giles said. The three sat and talked. Daniel explained that he was working for the military in linguistic analysis. Sam explained she was a high energy physics researcher. Giles felt they were dancing around the truth.

After almost an hour Sam asked if they had a bathroom she could use. Giles directed her to the store's bathroom. When she came back several minutes later she said, "Daniel, Rupert, I hate to break this up but we have a lunch date soon with some friends. If we are going to make it I think we need to leave now."

"Oh, well, certainly. If you'll be in town for long you must come back and visit. And Daniel, remember, it really is inviting bad luck to invite anyone into your home. I hope you would recall that. Especially as Sunnydale seems to abound with bad luck," Giles added.

Daniel laughed, "I'll keep that in mind. And hopefully, we can meet again soon."

Once they had left Tara turned to Giles and asked, "Why did you seem so startled to see them?"

Giles pulled out the papers he had been reading, Finding the spot that he thought described them, he handed it to Tara. "Read this, then tell me what you think."

Tara read the descriptions Xander had written, once she was done she looked at her Dad. "'Oh, bollocks' is right." Giles started to laugh. He quickly came around and gave Tara a hug.

Tara was surprised. She could feel his honest joy. His hug felt so right, protective and proud of her at the same time. She hugged him back, "Love you, Dad." She whispered, too soft for anyone without slayer hearing to hear.

"We had better call Joyce and the others to inform them of what's happened," Giles said. He quickly got a hold of Joyce and the girls. They would be over shortly. Xander and Faith were another issue. Either they didn't have their cell phones with them or they were out of range.

Once Joyce, Buffy and Willow arrived with lunch they sat down to eat and talk about what they could do.  
_

Faith and Xander left the Magic Box, stopped at the local grocery store and bought some food and drinks. Once they were out of the store with their purchases they went into the alley. Making sure that no one was around, Xander concentrated on one of the areas in the woods near Sunnydale that he was familiar with. A moment later they orbed out.

Orbing into the woods Faith was impressed with where Xander had taken her. There was a small pond in front of them. Scattered trees gave some shade. It looked peaceful and inviting. "So Boytoy, you bring me here to have your wicked way with me?" she asked.

Xander smiled at her, "Nope, I brought you to a place that Jesse and I used to come to. Willow never really liked going into the woods. This was a special place for us. We could hang out and just be guys." He smiled remembering his friend. "I thought maybe you and I could spend the day here. Make it someplace special for the two of us."

Faith smiled at that, "So Willow doesn't know about this place?"

"Not really, I mean she came a few times, it was just not a place she liked to come to. I don't think I've been here since Jesse died." Xander smiled at her, "But I think it's time to make some new memories here."

"I'd like that," Faith said as they both sat down and started talking and eating. After the food was gone they kept talking. Xander was leaning against a tree, his legs spread out. Faith was leaning against Xander his arms encircled her. She felt peaceful and calm.

"Faith," Xander began. "Joyce was right, we need to take everything slow with what we have. But I am going to say this now, I'm keeping you!" Faith smiled hearing her words parroted back to her. She remembered telling Xander she was keeping him.

"Still, I think we both need to practice with our powers. So let's get to it." Xander said, giving her a kiss on the check and a slight push to get her to move. The next several hours were spent practicing.

Xander found he could easily remove parts of things: limbs from trees or part of rocks. It was almost impossible to remove something from the center of something else. He just couldn't visualize it. He kept trying to remove the center of a bolder but just couldn't get it. When Faith asked him what he was doing he said, "I thought it would be cool if I could look at a vamp and just remove its heart. But looks like I can't."

"Poor baby,' Faith teased. "I guess you'll just have to settle for taking off arms and legs if you want to see their shocked faces." She kissed him. "So want to see what I can do?"

"Sure show me what you got," Xander said with a smile.

Faith held up a stick, "Keep your eyes on this." The stick faded from view. Xander reached up and felt it. It was still there. Faith smiled and put it on the ground. She looked to be concentrating. "This is hard as fuck," she said. "I really have to think about it to keep it invisible when I'm not touching it."

"Can you make something disappear without touching it?" Xander asked. That could be a really useful skill if she could do it.

"Don't know. I haven't tried that but this is giving me a headache so I figured this would be a good time for a break. And since we have that pond over there I thought you, me a little skinny dipping." Faith's smile was smoldering.

Xander groaned, "You're trying to kill me, aren't you?" He said even as Faith was already stripping. "Faith," He called out,"Let's keep the underwear on. I don't want to get too tempted."

Faith grinned, "Nothing's going to happen but we can have fun without doing anything else. Now, strip I want to swim with you." Xander complied with her order. They swam in the pond for another hour or so. Once they were out of the water and drying off Faith looked at Xander and said, "You know what Buffy and the rest are planning with having you strip?"

Xander nodded. "You had to remind me?" he groaned again.

"Yeah, because they think you're going to be all embarrassed and shit," Faith said.

"Well they're right about that," Xander replied.

"That's just it. Let's turn the tables on them." Faith had a huge grin on her face.

Xander looked at her. She was up to something. "You have an evil plan, don't you?" Faith nodded her head. "OK hit me with it."

"Well, first off they don't think you're going to be very good," she said, "but I figure if we really practice you can own them. You need to go out on stage and own everyone there. Strut your stuff, flaunt it. I bet if you do that, Buffy and the rest of them will be so hot and bothered they won't know what to do."

Xander thought about it. As plans went it could work. And he was sure if he did that Buffy and the others would never want to bring it up again. He grinned at Faith, "I love the way you think, So how do we start?"

They practiced Xander's moves for several more hours. Often Faith would show him some moves then he would adapt them. It was just after seven pm when they finished. Laughing and happy with everything they had accomplished today, Xander grabbed her and orbed them to the house.

As they materialized Faith said, "Not bad this time, Boytoy. You're right, it gets easier each time."

"What the hell is going on?" An older man in an Air Force uniform called out. With him were the same three people Xander has seen in the vision. The man continued, "How do you have access to teleportation technology?"

Xander looked at the group of familiar faces. His reply was eloquent as always, "Ah, Crap!"

Outside the house a few minutes earlier, the two soldier from the Initiative were not enjoying their assignment. The others had already returned to base. They had lost track of Harris and the HST earlier in the day, right after they came out of the grocery store. Now they were stuck watching the Summers home.

As they noted everything they saw an unfamiliar vehicle stop in front of the house. When the occupants got out they were surprised: a Full Bird Colonel and a Major wearing Air Force dress blues. With them was a large black man and another man that looked like one of the professors at the college.

Snapping as many photos as they could without being spotted, they quickly radioed the base to report the latest development. As soon as they reported the presence of USAF personnel, they were ordered to hold the position. Ten minutes later they were ordered to return to base.

Professor Walsh was not having a good day. Starting with Riley's report that didn't ring true for what she knew about Buffy Summers psychological profile. Then the men assigned to watch over the Goa'uld lost her and the Harris boy. Col. Maybourne had not been pleased with her initial report either. Now one of the teams reported the presence of a USAF Colonel and Major. She immediately ordered that the men return to base.

The only good news so far today had been the tests on the HST. The creature was incredible. It had been able to survive temperature extremes that would have killed a human. They had it in a test room set at one hundred and fifty degrees Fahrenheit for over an hour before its vital signs began looking seriously stressed. This was without giving it any water. Then they checked subarctic extremes. It had been doing well at zero degrees Fahrenheit; they had kept it there for almost two hours and there had been no signs of hypothermia. Frankly, the creature was amazing.

Walsh had left orders that as soon as the team watching the Summers house returned to base, they were to be sent directly to her. When they reported to her, she started questioning them about what they had seen. Hearing that they had taken photos she told one of them to go get the film to the lab. (The Initiative was set up with its own lab so they could document the dissections and other experiments.)

When the remaining agent described the four individuals who arrived at the Summers home, she stopped him. Going to the folders she had had Riley read the day before, she pulled out the files for Colonel O'Neill and Major Carter. Handing them to the agent she asked, "Are these the officers you saw entering the Summers home?"

"Yes Ma'am," replied the agent.

Walsh's first reaction was 'Oh shit, how is this going to affect the plans to capture the Goa'uld?' her second thought was along the lines of 'Will this affect operation Mariposa? and her Adam project?'

Looking at the agent she said, "I want all surveillance canceled for now. You're to find Agent Finn and inform him to report to me as soon as possible." The agent nodded and left.

Walsh thought about trying to contact Maybourne immediately, but playing out the possibilities in her head, she thought of a better way to use the time until she was supposed to report to him. "Better to make sure all of our tracks are covered. I would hate for anything to come to light that could damage my research."

It was almost another two hours before Riley reported to Professor Walsh. As he entered her office he could tell something was bothering her. "Professor Walsh," he began, "You wanted to see me?"

"Sit down, Agent Finn," she said. "Earlier tonight the men you had assigned to watch the Summers house reported that a party of four arrived there at around seven pm. These are the photos they took. Tell me if you recognize these people."

As Riley looked at the photos he immediately recognized the people in them. "This looks like the team from Project Bluebook, SG1," he replied. "What are they doing here, Ma'am?"

"At this moment I don't know," Walsh began. "Most likely it has something to do with the Goa'uld presence. I will be trying to find out more through our contacts. But for now, I am ordering you to stay clear of them. You will not approach them or anyone in the Summers house until we have more information on what they are doing here."

"Ma'am, but what about our efforts to capture the Goa'uld?" Riley was upset as he continued, "We need that technology to help heal Forest."

"Agent Finn, did you not hear me?" Walsh was getting upset. "You will not do ianything/i while SG1 is here. In fact, I am ordering all HST hunter teams to stand down. They will not be doing any capture missions until we know exactly why SG1 is here. The group from Project Bluebook is not cleared to know about our project. We will not give them anything that may expose us."

"What if Buffy or her group says anything?" Riley asked.

"Right now we have no control over that. I will bring it up with our oversight group. They may be able to force SG1 to be recalled," Walsh said. "But until they can do anything, we will take no actions."

"And if Buffy attempts to contact me?" Riley asked.

Walsh thought for a moment. "If she does, try to find out any information she can give you on why SG1 is here, without indicating that we are watching her. Ask her if anything new has happened with the Goa'uld. She may open up to them. You're dismissed, Agent Finn."

Riley nodded and left. He hoped Buffy would contact him soon so that he could get more information.

In a hidden part of the base, a young slayer was laying on the bunk attached to the wall. She had been tortured the entire day. She didn't know why she was here. A part of her almost believed the vampire had killed her because this was surely hell. However, contrary to what many had said to her when she came out, she really didn't believe that just being a lesbian would get her sent to hell.

That, and she could hear human being talking. They were referring to her as subject 353. They were planning more tests. The hot and cold extremes she had experienced today had almost killed her. They had provided as much water as she wanted to drink. But they hadn't given her nearly enough food. When she tried to ask any questions she was either ignored or, if she got too loud, she was shocked with a spell.

Kennedy swore that once she got out of this place she would kill whoever had been torturing her. She drifted in and out of sleep. She knew she needed to rest, to regain her strength. But she was too stressed out by the situation.

As Kennedy lay on the bed, she heard the sound of a group approaching her cell. She closed her eyes hoping they would think she was asleep and make a mistake that would allow her to escape. The group stopped in front of her cell. She heard a woman's voice. "Interesting, the subject is showing signs of some thought. According to its sensor data, it's merely pretending to be asleep. Let's give it a shock, shall we?"

Suddenly pain raced through Kennedy. She found herself screaming as every nerve seemed on fire. Opening her eyes she saw a woman in her forties with short dirty blond hair holding some kind of device. The woman looked at her like she was a bug.

"Now, that's better," the woman said. "I am sure you think you're going to get out of here. However, we have taken steps to ensure that this does not happen. You may have noticed that we can administer intense pain at will. I can also cause unbelievable pleasure." The woman held up the device in her hand. Kennedy felt like she was engulfed in the most mind-blowing orgasm of her life. It seemed to last forever. After it was over she was hit by another round of pain. This seemed even worse than the first time. Once it was over Kennedy found she could barely more. Her body was trembling and she didn't trust herself to even sit up let alone take out her captors.

"Now, wasn't that educational, 353?" The woman asked. "I can have you fluctuating between pain and pleasure as much as I want. But there's one other setting I want to show you." Kennedy heard the sound of someone whimpering. It was a moment before she realized it was her making the sound.

"You see 353, I can also remove your ability to move." Suddenly something was different. Kennedy could feel her body. But when she tried to do anything-move a finger, wiggle a toe-she could tell nothing was happening. "That's right, 353, I have cut off your ability for voluntary muscle control. You'll still breathe and have all of your autonomous physical responses working as normal. However now you can't even lift a finger without my allowing it. I must say when we discovered you, I was very surprised. Your remarkable healing ability enabled us to do so many things we haven't been able to try with a normal human being. You will enable me to push the boundaries of what we can accomplish. You should be proud of that, 353."

The more this woman talked the more Kennedy was certain she was bat-shit crazy. "You won't get away with this," she said.

"And why won't I, 353?" The woman asked. Kennedy held her tongue. She knew John would come for her. And if he was dead the Council would come. She just had to wait and hold on.  
"Hmm, you don't want to answer 353? Well, that's not very polite. I think I'm going to have to punish you for that." The woman smiled as she pushed the button.

Walsh kept cycling through pain and pleasure. She would let the pain build for twenty seconds followed by a rest of twenty seconds. Then pleasure for twenty seconds immediately followed by pain. After ten minutes she stopped. 353 had passed out. She knew a normal human would have been in cardiac arrest. Her subject was merely unconscious. She smiled as she told the two guards, "Move her to room three eleven. She should be awake in a little while."

Walsh was sitting across a table from 353; the subject was chained to a chair. Looking at one of the guards she said, "Get some water, use it to wake it up." She was careful to only use numbers or dehumanizing pronouns to refer to the subject. It wouldn't do for one of the guards to get ideas about this being a human being.

The guard complied. He left and came back a few minutes later with a pitcher of water. He poured it over 353's head. 353 sputtered as it regained consciousness. "I hope you enjoyed your nap, 353," Walsh said. "Because now we are going to talk. That is to say, I'm going to ask you questions and you're going to answer. If you fail to answer me I will let you enjoy the pain setting again."

Kennedy looked at this bitch. "Whoever you are, my name is Kennedy."

The woman just looked at her. "Names are for humans. You are not a human. You are subject 353. I am a human. You may call me Professor Walsh." The subject sneered at her as she said that.

"Now 353, you don't seem to understand. I want you to say my name and what yours is," Walsh said.

"Fuck you, you bitch." Kennedy spat out. She was rewarded as Walsh pushed the button again. For thirty seconds pain racked her body.

"Would you like to try again, 353?" Walsh asked.

"Fu-Fuck you" Was all Kennedy got out before the pain started again. This went on for almost an hour. Walsh just keep asking her the same question. Finally when Kennedy couldn't take it any more she said, "Professor Walsh."

Walsh waited to see if the subject would self identify as 353. When she didn't she shook her head. "You were so close, 353." She hit the pain settings again. She held it there until the subject passed out. Walsh called the guards. "Take it back to its cell. We'll start again in the morning."

Once the subject was back in its cell she released the controls so that it could move on its own again.

Walsh left to go to her own quarters. She had plans for tomorrow. The work on Adam was running smoothly. And once she finished her interrogations of 353 it would make a wonderful base subject for Eve.

When morning came Walsh hurried, through her duties that she could not postpone. Once she had the bare minimum completed she went to start talking to 353 again. Approaching the subject's cell she saw it was awake and appeared to be doing push-ups. She laughed; the creature really thought it would be able to get out of here. As it completed one push-up she pressed the control locking out its voluntary muscle control. The thing was able to raise its head and look at her.

Walsh motioned to the guards. "Take 353 to the interrogation room." Kennedy could feel as the guards groped her. They were not gentle. Painful hits to her breasts and sides, accompanied their manhandling of her. One of them grabbed her crotch as he levered her into a seat. It was the same seat from last night. They chained her and left as Professor Walsh came in.

"Now, 353" Walsh began. "I hope you enjoyed your rest." Walsh waited for an answer, judging how much the subject was already breaking. She was unsurprised that there was no response. "Today I am going to ask you some questions. If you refuse to answer you'll be subject to pain. Every time you refuse to answer the pain will be applied for longer intervals. If you answer you won't have to endure the pain. Do you understand?" Walsh waited for 353 to respond, "Well it seems you're a little slow." She hit the pain settings for five seconds. This went on for an hour. But the subject refused to respond. Finally, when it passed out she called in Angleman.

"Here are the list of questions for 353. I want you to keep working on it. Anytime it refuses to answer use the pain settings. Under no circumstances are you to use the pleasure settings during this interrogation." Walsh ordered him. Angleman nodded to her. Walsh left; she knew she should be expecting a call from Colonel Maybourne soon.

Walsh was sitting in her office when Maybourne contacted her. The man came on the screen, "Professor Walsh, you had better have more information for me than your last update."

Walsh smiled at the insufferable ass. "Colonel Maybourne, I do indeed. Due to recent developments I have pulled all surveillance teams."

Maybourne started to curse at her, "Why in the hell have you done that?" His tone of voice added 'You stupid Bitch.' Walsh knew she would enjoy it when the opportunity came to make this man suffer.

"Colonel Maybourne, I have had multiple agents watching the suspects. Last night our team reported that someone they had never seen before contacted the suspects. An Air Force Colonel, as well as three others." She paused for dramatic effect. "My teams took photos and we have confirmed that they have been contacted by Col. O'Neill, Maj. Carter, Dr. Jackson and the alien Teal'c."

Walsh sat back and inwardly enjoyed the show. Maybourne was cursing up a storm. She kept her face impassive, revealing nothing as he went on for over a minute. "Once I had confirmed the identities of these people I immediately had all surveillance efforts stopped. I did not want to compromise this project by bringing it to the attention of SG1."

Maybourne looked like he wanted to argue; however he could see that Walsh had a point. Looking at her he said, "I am going to check some things. Once I can confirm that SG1 is in fact in Sunnydale, I will contact you. I expect you to be available as soon as I contact you." With that Maybourne terminated the connection.

Walsh smiled as she sat back. She was sure he would have some asinine orders that violated their standing orders. And once he did that she would be in a position to take back control.  
_

SG1 Comes to Sunnydale is now up as well. It is No. 3 in the series "Nexus of Chaos". To keep making sense of everything, please read it. I felt it needed to be its own story because of how things will branch off. And it is primarily written from the point of view of SG1.


	20. Chapter 20

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.  
_

Chapter 20 _

John Anderson was not a happy man. It had been over twenty-four hours since the Council had last contacted him. From his talks with Captain Chandler, he knew that the retrieval team would not be able to break into the Initiative's base. They just did not have the manpower to accomplish the mission.

He had was also upset that Dr. Giles seemed to have disappeared as well. In fact none of the people he had met here in Sunnydale where anywhere to be found. He realized that protecting Faith and Buffy Summers would be their first priority, but he wished that they were able to do more to assist him.

John was almost relieved when his phone rang. Looking at the number he realized it was the Council. The call that followed was both quick and informative, but overall unsatisfactory. The Council had met with the Queen and the Prime Minister. After talking with them about the American's Initiative Project and the fact that they had taken the slayer prisoner, they had also informed them about the Stargate program. Everything that Riley Finn had told them was passed on to the British Monarch and the Prime Minister.

If John had known what the Queen's true feelings were for the Council he would have been amazed.

Neither the Queen nor the Prime Minister had taken the new information, presented by the Watcher's Council, well. Her Majesty was aware of what the Council did. Since the days of World War Two, the Monarchy had made sure to track what the Council did. The Queen would have loved to get rid of most of them. What they did to those young women, whilst in a certain light was a necessary evil, was also inhuman and monstrous. Unfortunately, the Watchers had too much knowledge that was needed to combat the forces of darkness. So the Queen tried to influence them by giving what aid she could to the more liberal minded Watchers. When she had heard what had happened to Dr. Giles she had quietly ordered her secretary to ensure that nothing happened to force Dr. Giles to return to England.

It was the Queen's belief that whilst Dr. Giles may have been of common stock, and even a ruffian in his youth, he had become a man of exceptional character. His determination to stay at his post even after that fool Travers had dismissed him proved that point.

Hearing the news that the Americans had not only kidnapped a slayer but that there were now four active slayers in the world was shocking. After the council representative had left, Queen Elizabeth began discussing options with her Prime Minister. Whilst technically he was the head of the British Government, the Royal Family still held immense power and prestige. After discussing their options they agreed to make a Joint call to the President of the United States. Privately Elizabeth felt a sense of smugness. It was almost four in the morning in the United States and she felt no remorse that they would be disturbing Hayes so early.

The resulting phone call left the Queen and the Prime Minister in a very good position. They had no doubt that once President Hayes had been briefed on the existence of Vampires and Demons that they would be able to secure the release of the young Slayer. Also, the knowledge they had gained of the Stargate program was a valuable bargaining chip. They both agreed that in the future they would need to press for inclusion of British personnel in the Stargate program.

Dr. Angleman was not happy, first Dr. Walsh, or as he preferred to think of her, the Pretentious Bitch, had pulled him from his own work with cloning Goa'uld. The recent inclusion of a sample of Orbanian nanites looked to be very promising. If they could successfully break the genetic code the Goa'uld used for memory, they could wipe out the species. The second reason was really the first, he had had to spend all day yesterday torturing the new specimen. And whatever Walsh may claim, he had read the reports. 'It' was a human female. He had no idea how she could do the things they had documented, but he was sure of the fact that she was human. If he had been a stronger man, he might have tried to help her. But he knew more than Walsh. She thought that the N.I.D. was in charge of this operation. He knew it was the Trust. And going against the Trust would only result in his own death.

As he wrote his report on the utter failure of Dr. Walsh's torture program he had to smile. Whoever that girl was she was made of iron. The pain settings had only worked for three hours. After that, something seemed to switch off in her. She quit responding to the simulated pain signals. He could tell from other tests that she was still completely capable of feeling things. But the pain didn't work at all.

"I wonder if the Bitch will be able to infer the logical next step," Angleman thought. "I really hope she is as over confident as I think she is." He smiled. If 353 could overcome the pain settings when was she going to overcome the incapacitation setting? He laughed as he imagined Walsh's surprised look when the young girl finally broke free and exacted her revenge. If he believed in a God he would have prayed that Walsh was alone with the girl when it happened.

Looking at the orders Walsh had left him, he decided to alter a few of the basic ones. She had not specified that the young woman was supposed to be kept on a low-calorie diet. But he knew her. She would want to keep the girl as weak as possible. Instead, he ordered the guards to bring double the amount of high carbs and proteins to the girl. He mused, "If I'm right, whatever it is that allows her to survive will need the fuel to repair itself. I just need to make sure I am out of the line of fire when she finally frees herself."

Returning to his lab, Angleman checked the progress of his latest experiment. Turning on his recorder he began speaking, "Test four twenty-eight, subset A. I have taken immature Goa'uld larva recovered from the Hathor event. Using cells from the larva I injected them with nanites obtained from the Orbanians that my team had reprogrammed. If our work was done correctly these should allow us to erase the Goa'uld queen's ability to genetically imprint its offspring."

Angleman paused as he examined the first specimen. "It appears we have successfully bred a queen Goa'uld specimen. The Goa'uld queen is significantly larger than a male, or drone Goa'uld. However, until we implant the specimen in a host, we will be unable to determine if it retains any or all of Hathor's genetic memory. We will also require it to breed before we can determine whether or not the primary objective had been achieved."

Placing the creature back down he went to examine the next specimen. "Test four twenty-eight, subset B. This specimen is very unusual. Based on what we have seen of Goa'uld mutations that we have induced, I would have expected this specimen to die. It lacks the primary snake-like qualities of the Goa'uld. I have taken a biopsy of the specimen and sent it to our labs for a genetic analysis. At this time I am unsure if it could take a host and survive. MRI's done on the specimen indicate substantial changes to its neural clusters. However, it does appear to be secreting almost all of the standard Goa'uld enzymes and biological byproducts."

Turning off the recorder Angleman mused aloud, "Overall not a bad bit of work."

In her cell, Kennedy was enjoying the food she was given. Where the previous meals had left her feeling starved, someone had changed her diet. She was brought two large steaks and a large bowl of mashed potatoes. It looked like it had come from a cafeteria. And after everything else, it felt like Heaven. She could almost feel her body getting strong.

Yesterday the torture had been unbearable, for hours it had lasted. Until something inside of her snapped. She could almost see the signals coming into her brain. Kennedy could almost hear a voice, telling her how to regain control. Kennedy wasn't sure if she had gone mad, but as she watched it was almost as if she could tell when the signals started. By paying attention, listening to what the voice was saying, out of sheer desperation she tried to reverse the signal. It had been amazing when that worked. Since then she had concentrated on the other signals she could feel. She now knew how to switch her muscles on or off. She had tested it and unless she was actually crazy at this point she knew that she could overcome that Bitch the next time she saw her. The only signal of the three that she didn't know yet was the pleasure one. But Kennedy was confident that once exposed to it she would be able to adjust it at will.

Kennedy smiled a bloodthirsty smile. The voice seemed to be getting stronger. She could feel it in her mind, it showed her images of all the things she would do to Walsh. The other man who had been in charge of her yesterday had been very vocal about how he hated the Bitch. He hadn't outright called her that but Kennedy could hear it in his voice. She wondered if he thought that would save him from her revenge. She actually felt like laughing; the stupid prick probably thought it would. She'd have to teach him the truth.

Kennedy knew she was a bit of a brat and a bitch. However, as she sat in the cell she was reminded of something John had once told her. She couldn't remember the exact quote, something about how knowledge of your impending death has a wonderful ability to focus the mind. Well, she wasn't convinced of that. But certainly, the pain she had endured had brought her a new kind of knowledge. "John, I hope I get to see you again," Kennedy said. "I know I've always been a brat and sometimes a bitch, but if I do get to see you, I owe you an apology and I will tell you I love you. You've always been there for me. I couldn't have had a better big brother than you."

Later, when Dr. Walsh listened to the recording she would smile. Subject 353 was starting to break.

It was almost noon of the third day since they had captured Subject 353. Dr. Walsh had spent her morning going over the physical reports of the agents assigned to the Initiative. The injections they had created by harvesting and processing Goa'uld larva were incredibly effective. Most of the men were showing physical abilities almost on par with one of the Goa'uld's Jaffa soldiers. However, almost ten percent of them showed signs of compromised immune system. Dr. Walsh was almost relieved that Riley wasn't among those men.

Looking over the reports from Dr. Angleman, Walsh saw where he was needing a subject for a possible implantation of his latest Goa'uld clone. Glancing back at the other files, she picked up the file for agent Forest. While not ideal, tests had indicated he was currently brain dead. "It may be interesting to see what happens when a Goa'uld is implanted into a brain dead human host." Walsh made a note to transfer Agent Forest to Dr. Angleman's lab. She smiled as she mused aloud, "I'm sorry Riley, but it looks like Agent Forest did not survive."

She was brought out of her musing by a knock at the door to her office. "Yes," Dr. Walsh called out.

Opening the door, one of the Agents on staff looked in, "Dr. Walsh," he began. "I'm sorry to disturb you but there is a Colonel Maybourne who insisted that we get you on the line with him immediately. He said that you would know how to contact him."

Walsh nodded to the Agent, "Alright thank you, Agent,, that will be all." Dismissing him from her mind she booted her computer up. "What does that jackass want now?" Walsh thought.

Once her system was up, Dr. Walsh connected to the secure site that the Initiative used for conferences. She immediately saw an impatient Maybourne looking at her. Before she could say anything Maybourne was yelling at her.

"Do you have any idea of the Cluster Fuck you have created?" Maybourne screamed.

"Col. Maybourne, I am sorry but I don't have any idea of what you're talking about," Walsh calmly replied.

"I'll tell you what I'm talking about you stupid Bitch!" Walsh was shocked, while she wasn't surprised that Maybourne thought she was a bitch, she was amazed that he would actually call her one to her face. "Just over three days ago you had your teams raid the apartment of Rupert Giles. And while they were not competent enough to capture him, they did capture a young woman. This young woman, Kennedy DeSilva appears to have friends in high places." Maybourne said.

"Col. Maybourne, "Walsh began. "While it is true that a young woman was brought in after having been attacked by hostile seventeen. After verifying that she was out of danger I had her released to the local hospital. In fact, one of my best men took care of it personally, Agent Forrest."

Maybourne looked at Walsh through the screen. "How stupid do you think I am?" Maybourne asked. "We have taps on all of your systems. Agent Forrest was already in your hospital when DeSilva was captured. And since as of this morning he was still there, I doubt he released the girl. Dr. Walsh, you will have the girl released immediately. She is to be brought up to the college campus and turned loose. You will not attempt to detain her, nor will you attempt to track her. Right now the President is asking questions about the Initiative. And from what I understand he has decided that he doesn't like the answers."

Walsh was unsure of what was happening. Nothing about this girl seemed to indicate that she would warrant this level of scrutiny. All of her work was now in jeopardy because of one little bitch. Walsh looked at Maybourne, "Fine, I'll make sure she's released within the hour." Seeing that Maybourne was about to object she added, "We'll have to get her cleaned up and try to flush some of the sedatives from her system." It was a gamble but Walsh was betting Maybourne didn't have any information from that area of the base. Those systems were closed to the outside.

Maybourne nodded to her, "If she's not out within the hour, I will make sure that when they kill you it will hurt. However, do what you're told and maybe you get to survive." Maybourne cut the connection.

Walsh couldn't believe all of her work was about to be destroyed. And that little inhuman bitch was the cause. "You want her released," Walsh thought. "I'll make sure she is released. It's just unfortunate that she caused a problem and was taken as a host by one of the Goa'uld."

Picking up her phone she called to the secure labs. "I want subject 353 taken over to Dr. Angleman's lab. Have it chained there, then leave her. Dr. Angleman and I will be there shortly." Walsh didn't even realize she was no longer strictly referring to 353 as it. She was just too angry that anything would threaten her work.

Kennedy was waiting in her cell. For the last day or so she had no contact with anyone. Her meals had been dropped off by silent men. They ignored anything she said. She briefly thought about stripping in order to get a response from them. But the idea of even teasing a man was just too gross to consider.

Kennedy listened as she heard men approaching, "Dr. Walsh has ordered 353 to be taken to Dr. Angleman's lab. She wants us to chain it and then leave it. She said she and Angleman would be there shortly. Be careful when we're approaching this one. It may look cute and harmless, but it's much stronger than a human."

As Kennedy watched she saw the guard round the corner. One of them was carrying the box Walsh had used. She sensed the signal that indicated they tried to shut down her muscle control. Rather than lose the opportunity to kill Walsh, the voice told Kennedy to allow the signal to go through.

As her muscles stopped responding Kennedy watched the guards enter. They picked her up and placed her on a gurney. Strapping her down they wheeled her to a section of the base she had never seen. Not that she had seen much anyway. Opening the door they brought her into a lab filled with tanks. The tanks contained snake-like creatures of various sizes.

The guards chained her again, but as they were moving to chain her, she flipped the switch. She was very careful to give herself a little room when they thought they tightened the chains. Once the guards left Kennedy tested the chains. It took almost two minutes to create enough of a deformation of the chair's arms to where she could slip free.

Kennedy was starting to work on freeing her legs when she heard someone outside of the door. She quickly slipped her arms back into the chains and tried to make it look like she was still helpless.

Dr. Walsh opened the door. There she was subject 353, the little bitch that was causing problems. Walking into the room Walsh looked around. She had listened to Angleman's reports. He thought he had a viable Goa'uld queen. She spotted the specimen. Walking over to its container, Walsh started talking to 353.

"You should be happy, 353," Walsh said, "It appears you were telling the truth that I, let me see how did you phrase it...Oh yes, you said, "I wouldn't get away with this." Well, why it may be true that I have been ordered to release you. I'm afraid that you won't be enjoying your newfound freedom."

Picking up the container, Walsh continued. "You may be wondering what these creatures are. They are an Alien species called the Goa'uld. We've been experimenting with them. You see they have several unique features. When they take a human as a host they increase their lifespan, strength and immune system to incredible standards." Walsh looked at Kennedy. "I know your little brain probably thinks that sounds wonderful. But you see there is a downside. The Goa'uld are intelligent. And they don't like sharing the body with their original owner. From what we have learned the Goa'uld take complete control of the body leaving the original consciousness to observe everything the Goa'uld does. Powerless to effect anything."

Kennedy felt sick as this psychotic bitch described this thing in a tone of voice filled with admiration. While Walsh's back had been to her she had once again freed her arms. "What are you going to do with that thing?" Kennedy asked she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

"Simple 353," Walsh said with a smile. "I'm going to provide it with a host. And since there is no way to force a Goa'uld to leave a host." She smiled, "Oh it has been tried. The host always dies when we have attempted to remove the Goa'uld. But as I said since there is no way to remove it, you are going to spend the rest of a very long life trapped as a host to a Goa'uld."

Placing the jar on a table near Kennedy, Walsh continued, "I know you're probably thinking I'm just being petty. You managed to somehow get people in power to demand your release. And I'm trying to get revenge." Walsh looked at her, "I admit you're partially correct. I am going to take a great deal of pleasure in thinking of your situation in the future. But the truth is that Earth is at war with the Goa'uld. As a result of that, you will never be in any position to cause me problems in the future. Once I release your body with its new owner outside, the Goa'uld will be too busy running to cause me any problems."

Walsh wheeled the table over to Kennedy, "And once I report that a Goa'uld took you over the military will be hunting you down. And I'm sorry to say that experience has taught us to not even try to take a Goa'uld captive. They will be shooting to kill."

"You really think you'll get away with this you crazy bitch?" Kennedy asked.

"Of course I will, 353," Walsh said. "Once I open this container the Goa'uld will come out seeking a host. And I'm sorry but since you can't move it will easily possess you while I watch."

As Walsh moved right beside Kennedy she reached for the latch to release the Goa'uld. "Only one problem with your plan, Bitch," Kennedy said.

"Really 353," Walsh said, the sheer stupidity of this thing. It really thought it could talk its way out of this. She almost wanted to laugh. Turning to Kennedy she held down the lid with her other hand. "Please enlighten me, what is the problem with my plan?"

Kennedy reached out and grabbed Walsh's closest arm, jerking the woman forward. She broke Walsh's arm while saying, "I'm not paralyzed, Bitch."

Walsh screamed. As she fell backward, the tray with the Goa'uld container on it tipped over as well, spilling the creature to the ground. Walsh tried to pull free. Kennedy held on. Using her other arm she forced Walsh towards the creature. The thing hissed and reared up like a snake about to strike. Small wings seemed to open around its head. Walsh was screaming now. Her mind was yelling for the guards that she had sent away.

"Kill it, you have to kill it," Walsh screamed. Kennedy smiled as the creature lunged at Walsh, it entered through her mouth and disappeared. Walsh started convulsing her eyes wide with fear.

Looking her right in the eye, Kennedy said, "Don't worry. I promise one day, I will hunt you down. But I promise you, I won't kill you. I'm going to make sure you're captured, so that that thing can't do any damage. But you, you'll live a long, long time, as a lab rat." As Kennedy finished speaking she hit Walsh in the head, she had to be careful so that she didn't kill the woman. But she really didn't care if the woman had a bad skull fracture.

As Kennedy was working on her chains, trying to get free before anyone else came, the Goa'uld was adjusting to its new host. It could hear the pitiful creature screaming, protesting that it couldn't do this. Hathor, its name was Hathor, began crushing the mind it inhabited. Brick by brick it walled off the consciousness of Margaret Walsh. As it did it looked over the memories of its new host.

Hathor was incensed as it learned it was a clone of the original Hathor. And that the Tau'ri were attempting to destroy the Goa'uld by finding a method to stop the queens from passing on their genetic knowledge. If they succeeded it would mean the end of the Goa'uld. As Hathor looked through her host's memories she realized that if she could find a way to succeed at this she could also find a way to ensure that she would be immune to the process. That would mean she, Hathor, would once again be the queen of all Goa'uld.

Hathor also saw that these Tau'ri also had access to Goa'uld technology. According to her host, they had items taken from the bodies of fallen Goa'uld. Hathor was pleased to see they had a Kara Kesh. That would be useful. Sensing the injuries in her host body, Hathor began healing them. She could sense the broken bones in the host's arm. Also, the skull had several fractures. She directed the healing of the host body, from the host's memories she knew that this creature did not meet her normal standards of physical beauty. However the knowledge of the Initiative and its Adam project held much promise.

Searching her own memories Hathor couldn't remember what happened after she took over the Tau'ri's Stargate command. Her host supplied the needed memories. She learned of how she had been defeated by the women warriors of the Tau'ri.

Hathor realized she was currently in another Tau'ri military installation. This time, she would make sure the females were killed first. All of the males would serve her. And using her knowledge, the Adam creature would make a fitting first Prime. She was pleased that it could be programmed. It would be incapable of ever betraying her.

Opening her eyes Hathor saw she was in a laboratory. There was a chair with chains hanging from it next to her. All around her, she saw containers filled with Goa'uld. Hathor was filled with disgust at what was in front of her. The Tau'ri would pay. But for now, these abominations would stay in place. She would need them to complete her plan. As she was levering herself, up the door to the lab burst open.

A human male dressed in military clothing of the Tau'ri ran in followed by several others. "Dr. Walsh," it called out. "Ma'am we've been looking all over for you. Something broke out of the base. It looked like a human female but it tore through our men when we tried to stop it." The creature stopped, looking at Walsh it said, "Ma'am, are you alright?"

Hathor responded as her host would have, "Agent, do I look alright? Subject 353 attacked me. It knocked me out. Right now my head is killing me. And the subject stole my ID and shoes. Now help me up, I need to get to my office to call this in."

As the agent bent down to help Dr. Walsh, Hathor began planning her next move. She would need to create a supply of Nish'ta with her special signature. None of the other Goa'uld had ever understood how to key the Nish'ta to their host's pheromones. Once she had that done she could begin taking over the base.

As they approached her office another initiative agent ran up to her. "Dr. Walsh, Col. Maybourne has been trying to get a hold of you for the last twenty minutes. We've been looking everywhere for you."

Hathor nodded. "Of course, I need to talk to Col. Maybourne immediately. And get someone to kill that alarm. I want the base to go on lockdown. No one is to come in or out. We've had another HST escape and until I find out why I don't want anyone going anywhere."

"Yes Ma'am," Agent Gates replied. Hathor was pleased more of her host's information was becoming available to her. "Do you want me to notify Captain Finn? He's currently not on base."

"Call Agent Finn, after I talk with Col. Maybourne, I should have orders for him," Hathor said.

Once Kennedy had the chains removed, she paused. What would be the smart move? The Bitch had said that someone had ordered her to let Kennedy go. "It has to have been John and the Council." Looking around the room Kennedy was disappointed. There were a few scalpels which she pocketed. Well, she would have if the hospital gown she was in had had pockets.

Checking a small supply room she found some rather nasty sweat pants and a t-shirt that had seen better days. The shirt had some idiotic phrase on it: There are 10 types of people in the world: Those who understand binary, and those who don't.

Still even with everything else, these clothes were better than nothing. The voice in her head was telling her to hurry up. After changing she carefully placed one of the scalpels in the small of her back, securing it with medical tape she found in the lab.

Looking over at Walsh, Kennedy could tell she was still out of it. Kennedy moved towards the chair she had been chained to. If only she could get on of the chains free, that would make a decent weapon. The way they were welded to the chair was a problem. It would probably be easier to move the entire chair than to remove on of the chains.

Walsh stirred a little, so Kennedy decided it would be best to make sure she stayed down. A little love tap to the ribs with her foot, "Well maybe I am a bad person," Kennedy thought, as she kicked Walsh. "But I think I can live with myself."

When she kicked Walsh Kennedy saw the Bitch's ID cards. They looked like the magnetic key cards you need to get around. "Gee thanks, Bitch," Kennedy said to Walsh. "I would have totally forgotten to take those if you hadn't given them to me. Looking at Walsh's feet Kennedy realized the woman's shoes were too big but better to have something on. She pulled off Walsh's shoes and used more surgical tape put into little balls to stuff the toe of the shoes.

Kennedy was ready to go. She grabbed one of the rolling medical trays. She had on it several jars and any small heavy item she could find in the lab. She honestly had no idea what most of this crap was. She had also taken a white lab coat from the back of a chair that was sitting behind a desk in the corner. The thing hung on her, but between the other clothes she at least didn't look like an escaped prisoner at first glance.

Kennedy listened at the door. Not hearing anything she opened it and pushed the cart out. She knew which way she had come in from but had no idea where the exit was. And secret Government bases usually didn't have handy "you are here" maps on the walls.

Kennedy pushed the cart forward. Her sense were primed. She was trying to listen for anything that might help her. Up ahead, the corridor had a turn to the right. Pausing as she got close she listened. Kennedy heard the sound of approaching footsteps. Backing up towards the wall, she waited.

It wasn't long before two men in military BDU's turned the corner. Kennedy launched herself at the closest one. Hitting him in the neck she heard the sound of breaking bones. The soldier dropped to the ground, a lifeless corpse. Inside her head, Kennedy could hear the voice that had been talking to her. It was happy, she was finding it harder to understand, but she could tell the voice was happy.

The other guard had barely had time to react before his companion was dead. As he was turning Kennedy hit him in the solar plexus. All the air rushed out of his lungs. He fell to the floor gasping for air like a fish out of water. Kennedy stepped into him. She kicked down at his knee, shattering the joint. He tried to scream but didn't have enough air in his lungs to scream.

Grabbing one of his arms Kennedy snapped the bone in his forearm. Looking at him as he tried to reach her with his undamaged arm, Kennedy grabbed the flailing limb. Easily holding it in place she said, "You're going to tell me how to get out of here." The guard, still unable to talk, shook his head, he wouldn't do it. "Either you tell me how to get out of here, or I'm going to break every bone in your body before I kill you."

"Yo-you won't get away." the guard gasped. "Too many guards."

Kennedy smiled at him. "Then what do you have to lose? Tell me what I want to know and your friends can try to stop me. Don't and I will make sure to kill as many of you as I can find."

Most of the men in the Initiate were good patriotic soldiers. Those men wouldn't have caved so easily to Kennedy's demands. But the men assigned to the special sections group they were what could kindly be called cowardly scum. Walsh knew if the regular soldiers saw what they were doing they would never stand for it. So she had made a point of recruiting a group of men with more questionable values.

This guard was one of those men. He was really here because it got him out of several charges involving a young female private. While the evidence the military police had access to was weak at best, the tapes the N.I.D. had would have seen him up on charges. Added to the fact that the private had died of her injuries a week after the attack and he would have been facing life at the very least in Leavenworth.

Kennedy listened as the guard started talking. He quickly gave her directions out of not only this section but the base itself. After she had made him repeat himself twice, Kennedy reached down and broke his other arm. As he screamed she knocked him out.

Looking at the corpse and the unconscious man Kennedy grabbed their batons. They were also carrying some weird kind of gun. It looked like something a sci-fi nerd would have dreamed up. Grabbing one of them, Kennedy decided it was time to try for a rapid exit.

As Kennedy ran through the corridors she crossed into a new section of the base. This area seemed cleaner. The other section had a crappy James Bond villain feel to it. Kennedy also started running into more people. The first group of four she came across were a mixed group, three women in lab coats and one man. Kennedy didn't recognize any of them; unfortunately for her, they didn't recognize her as one of the staff members. One of them started to cry out for the guards. Kennedy struck. These people were not fighters. To knock them out took less than ten seconds.

The noise from the fight had drawn the attention of others. An alarm started to sound. Red lights were flashing in the corridor. More guards started moving in. More of the guards with their nerd guns came towards her. She was hit once by one of the blasts, that thing hurt like a mother fucker. Seeing more guards coming. Kennedy grabbed the body of one of the men. She decided to use it as a shield.

Up ahead she could see the elevators. She heard the guards saying to keep back they would trap her there. Once her back was to the elevator she looked for any buttons. Seeing one she pushed it. A screen lit up with a hand impression. Grabbing the human shield she had with her Kennedy levered his hand to the elevator.

A light scanned over it. Then an electronic voice said, "Access denied, Emergency protocols are active. Only command level access allowed."

"Shit," Kennedy said.

Riley was not in a good mood. Yesterday's orders from Walsh meant he couldn't do anything to help her. He really didn't understand the orders. SG-1 had a proven record, they were elite. He had read the mission brief; even if they currently didn't know about the Initiative, they could easily handle the information. And their experience with the Goa'uld would make them an asset.

Today's classes had been an exercise in frustration. He hadn't seen Buffy since the other night. Sitting in his room Riley decided he might as well head down to the base. There was always paperwork to be done. He decided to grab a quick shower and head down. Riley thought as he got himself cleaned up, "I'm really glad the date went so well, maybe next time we can have a date without any outside issues interfering."

Riley was in the shower when lights started flashing in the house. "Shit," he exclaimed, quickly rinsing himself off. Something was happening in the base. Rushing to his room he dressed and grabbed his blaster. He was a little surprised that there weren't more men waiting at the elevator. Either they were already down below or they weren't actually in the house. Either way, he knew his duty. Keying the pad, he used his print to override the lockdown. The elevator doors opened and he pushed the button to descend.

Going down over sixty feet can seem to take forever, even when you don't have to stop at every floor. As he neared the bottom, Riley prepared his weapon; there was no telling what he would encounter when the doors opened.

The door to the elevator opened and Riley was shocked, a small woman was standing there. What's more, he recognized her. The last time he had seen her she had been bleeding from Hostile Seventeen's attack. Protocol said he should shoot her, at least contain her. But he knew something was wrong. Professor Walsh had lied to him. Walsh had told him the girl was dropped off at the local hospital.

Kennedy saw the doors opening. As they opened she saw another armed soldier. He looked at her and stopped. Kennedy pushed the man she had been using aside and rushed the new soldier. She slammed him to the side of the elevator. Turning to the controls she pushed the button that was not lit. The access panel lit up again. Looking at the soldier she hoped he had access.

"You, put your hand on that panel before I have to hurt you," Kennedy commanded.

Riley looked at the girl. Walsh had lied, Buffy had tried to warn him that something was wrong but he knew better. He was a Captain in the United States Army, dammit. Kennedy moved towards him: he wasn't moving fast enough. Raising his hand, Riley placed it on the pad, "Walsh lied." Riley said to the girl. "She told me that you were in the local hospital. Why'd she lie?" The question wasn't really directed to Kennedy, it was more Riley thinking out loud.

Kennedy snorted as the doors closed, this guy was something else. "Ah, because she's a psychotic bitch that wanted to feed me to some alien snake?"

"What?" Riley yelled. "She did what?" He had already dropped his blaster to the side.

Looking at this guy Kennedy didn't feel threatened. Granted, since she became the slayer she only felt danger when fighting vampires and demons. "She tortured me, then tried to feed me to some alien Goa'uld snake. She said once the thing was in me, it would never come out. Not until someone killed me."

"Holy shit," Riley thought. He said aloud, "She tried to use you as a host for a Goa'uld? Why?"

Kennedy shrugged, "She thought if she did that no one would ever know about the torture."

"She tortured you?" Riley asked. Disbelief was ringing through his voice. "But you're human!"

"Yeah, but I'm the Slayer!" Kennedy proudly said. In her head, she could hear the voice telling her to kill him. Rip his throat out, bath in his blood. Watch the life drain out of his eyes.

"You can't be the slayer," Riley said. Another girl claiming to be the slayer, what the hell? "Buffy's the slayer."

"We'll she was till she died," Kennedy said. Riley was bothered by her voice; it was like she was mentioning a passing car, no emotions of grief or regret that someone had died.

"What? But I just saw her the other night!" Riley said. Was that why he hadn't seen her since their date? Could Buffy really be dead?

"Hey, I just know that for me to be a slayer the last one had to die. Never met Summers or her Watcher. But there was a vampire in his apartment and the only way it could have gotten in was if the Watcher were dead," Kennedy declared.

"What killed her?" Riley demanded.

"How the hell should I know?" Kennedy responded. "I've been locked up with Psycho Bitch getting tortured. Haven't had time to find out anything. Once I get out of here I have to find John, and I'm really sorry, you seem like a nice guy, for a guy. But I can't leave you awake."

Riley held out his hands, "Wait! I knew Buffy, I was dating her! Take me with you, I want to find whatever killed her."

"You were dating her?" Kennedy asked. She wasn't sure about taking him with her, but figured John would sort him out. "Describe her, and her friends," Kennedy said. She had seen pictures of the Summers girl and the group she had around her. Time to see if this guy was on the level.

Riley described Buffy, Willow, Giles, and Xander. By the time he was done naming them and giving a brief physical description the doors were about to open. Looking at Kennedy he said, "If anyone is there let me talk to them, I'll tell them Dr. Walsh ordered me to escort you out when the alarms started." Kennedy looked like she wanted to argue. "Please, they are good men. None of us knew about any torture programs. At least try it my way."

"Fine, but if you're lying, I'll make sure to hurt them more than I have to to get away," Kennedy promised.

The doors opened and Kennedy and Riley were facing five men, armed with blasters. All were pointed at them. "Stand down," Riley ordered. "I was down below when the alarm started. Professor Walsh ordered me to get the civilian from the other night out of the base. Hostile Seventeen has broken loose again. She wanted to make sure he didn't go for her again."

One of the men looked at Riley, "Authorization Code, Captain Finn." If Riley gave the right code everything was fine, if he gave the capture code they knew to take out the girl.

"Delta, one, gamma, three, hoorah." Riley said. The men lowered their weapons.

"Orders, Captain Finn?"

"Stay on guard here. Professor Walsh should have everything back in order very soon. I don't think Hostile Seventeen will get away this time. I'm taking, ah," Riley paused. Looking at the girl, "Professor Walsh never told me your name."

Kennedy was partially relieved; this might work. When Riley asked for her name she decided to play the part, "Jackie," she said softly. "Please can we get out of here? I don't want that guy to find me again."

The soldiers relaxed internally. Obviously this was a civilian who couldn't even face the reality of a vampire attack. "Right, I'm taking Jackie to her house. I should be back in about an hour. The Professor knows how to get a hold of me if she needs me before then."

Looking at the girl some of the men laughed internally. An hour? Right, Riley was going to get his ashes hauled. She probably only lived ten minutes away. And as Riley had said, the Professor would be finished soon. In fact even as they were talking the alarm cut out. "Looks like you were right Sir," one of the men said.

Riley nodded, "Carry on." he ordered as he escorted Kennedy out of the house. Once outside he took her to one of the SUV's. Opening it and turning the engine on he said, "Where to?"

Kennedy gave him directions to the motel she and John had been staying at. Riley shifted the car into gear and took off.

Ten minutes later Riley and Kennedy arrived at the Sunnydale Arms motel. Kennedy got out of the car, Riley was uncomfortable leaving his weapons in the car. But he also didn't want to cause any problems. Finally, he decided that for now it would be better to leave them in the car.

Following Kennedy she made her way to one of the rooms, knocking on the door, she called out, "John, open up it's me." There was the sound of something falling inside and the door was wrenched open. John Anderson was amazed to see Kennedy in front of him. Crossing the short distance between them he pulled the girl into a hug.

"Kennedy," John said. "Thank God, it worked! They were able to get them to release you." John suddenly noticed Kennedy wasn't alone. Riley Finn was with her. Part of him wanted to take out his anger on the man, but he remembered the interrogation session. Riley had honestly thought Kennedy was free. "What is he doing here?"

Riley was surprised at the animosity in the man's voice. "Seriously I've never met the guy and he's looking at me like I'm scum," Riley thought.

Kennedy responded, "He's the one who helped get me out of that place. Some psycho bitch who runs it was going to stick this alien snake in me before letting me go. I took her out and had almost escaped. But I couldn't get out. Riley here, he took me the rest of the way out. He even bluffed a bunch of soldiers, said he was acting on the Bitch's orders."

Entering the room Kennedy saw John wasn't alone. There was a hot chick and some guy with her. Looking at the girl Kennedy leered, "Who's the babe?"

Riley seeing them there called out, "Harris, Faith?" Oh shit, Oh shit he was trapped, without any weapons in a room with a Goa'uld.

"Riley," Xander said. "I've already told you once, my last name is Giles. And calm the hell down. Faith isn't a Goa'uld."

"What the FUCK," Riley said. Harris.. Ah, Giles knew about the Goa'uld. He had to be lying. Riley was getting ready to run. When Xander spoke again.

"Look, Riley, if you run you won't get to know the truth for a while," Xander said. "The President is already ordering that the Initiative be shut down. Walsh is through."

Kennedy laughed out loud, "I'll say the Bitch is already done!" Kennedy proudly declared. When everyone looked at her she continued. "She tried to put one of those snake things into me. I knocked her out and it got her instead."

"Oh Shit," Riley said. "You mean that the head of the Initiative is under the control of a Goa'uld?"

"Big deal, Bitch got what was coming to her," Kennedy replied.

Xander and Faith were looking at each other. "We've got to tell General Hammond," Faith said. Riley was shocked again, he knew who General Hammond was. How in the Hell did Faith know who he was?

Xander looked at the others, he knew he didn't want to reveal his abilities. But if a Goa'uld was free inside the Initiative then every second could count. "You coming with me?" Xander asked Faith. Looking at who she would have to stay with Faith decided she would rather not stick around. She grabbed Xander around the waist. "Right, we'll be back soon. Riley stays here, General Hammond will have questions for you." Xander orbed back to the SGC.

"Holy Shit!" Came from Kennedy. "Oh my God!" was Anderson's contribution. Riley had had too many shocks, he just fell down into a chair and said, "Fuck." 


	21. Chapter 21

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

And Thank You to everyone who has left a review.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.  
_

Chapter 21 _

Drusilla was enjoying herself. The nice Chaos demon, it was such fun. His antlers gave her the tinglies. And he didn't mind when she wanted to play rough. She went over to where her dinner was, such a lovely young girl. Her habit brought back memories of when Daddy had courted her. Before he freed her to the lovely night.

The girl was praying, "Please Mother Mary, please."

"Ah, don't you worry ducky," Drusilla said. "Mother Mary, won't be here. We're going to have such fun. The lovely screams, the playful floggings," Drusilla leaned down and kissed the girl on her lips, playfully sinking her fangs into the girl's lips. The blood tasted so sweet mixed with tears and the lovely scent of fear.

As the blood ran down her throat, the stars started to sing. "Oh my," Drusilla said in awe. "My kitten is a right tiger he is. With white fur and blue stripes. So sparkly blue, and he's going to eat us all up." Drusilla giggled. "Oh, the nasty snakes they are going to be so sad." Drusilla was staring into space. "They should know better they should. Only real Gods should play with their toys. But my Tiger he'll eat them up." Drusilla took a bite from the air right by the girl's face. The girl screamed.

"Don't worry Ducky," Drusilla said as she caressed the girl's cheek. "Kitten will eat up all the Gods, He'll get the Wizard and the Serving girl and he'll eat them all up, he will!"

Drusilla stumbled as the stars sang again. "Oh no, no, no, no not that Kitten, we don't want Winter or Summer, their courts are so bad, ones too cold and the other's too hot. They won't let us drink the lovely tea." Tears of blood started to run down Drusilla's face. "Their courts will grow and nothing but dust will be left."

Turning to her doll, Drusilla picked up Ms. Edith, "Whatever shall we do Miss Edith? Kitten has called the courts and they will make dust of us all." Drusilla held the doll to her chest. "If we're dusty we can't drink the lovely tea." Drusilla started to shake, "Even not Daddy will go away, and Grandmama will never come back to us. Oh, those nasty boys. They won't like that. The Wolf will eat the sheep, and the Stag will fall down, he will."

Looking at the doll Drusilla continued, "But what about me? I'll be a lonely princess. No Daddy, No Grandmama, no lovely Spike. They'll all be gone, and even if I hide the blue lights will find me they will."

Once again Drusilla shook, "Oh how fun my Spike is so naughty. He's been out on the town he has. And that little blond tramp, well she needs to be taught a lesson. Spike is my Spike and she can only have him when I say!" Drusilla laughed. "But Spike won't be Spike Ms. Edith! If he goes to the Darkest place he won't be my Spike when he would come out, He'd be the little William again. Just like not Daddy." Drusilla was pouting, "I shan't allow it, not Daddy is a bad puppy. My Spike will not be a puppy," Drusilla held up her doll. "But I don't want to be a puppy, Ms. Edith. Puppies are messy and their growlies are not fierce. I want to be a fierce Tiger, oh like my Kitten, He's fierce and growly he is."

"But I can't go to the darkness, it would eat me up." Drusilla smiled. "What a fun thing Ms. Edith. You always have such fun stories. If my Spike is going to the Darkness we'll just make sure we will be tigers, not puppies and then the princess of Winter will not be cold to us. And the princess of Summer will have us for tea." Drusilla pulled her doll to her lips. Kissing Ms. Edith Drusilla said, "Thank you, oh Miss Edith we shall have such a lovely party with jaffa cakes covered in blood. Lovely blood, it will be such a party. Better than any of Daddy's parties."

"Now we must pack, our trip will be long. Don't forget your knickers Miss Edith, you naughty girl." Drusilla laughed. Turning to the girl she looked at her, "But look at you my lovely, all scared and trembly, Would you like me to send you to Mother Mary or would you like to stay here?"

The girl trembled, this creature was insane. It was a Vampire. But it was offering to let her go. She shook her head and said, "Yes please, please let me go to Mother Mary."

Drusilla smiled her eyes yellow and fanged mouth smiling, "Off you go then to Mother Mary's arms. And the sweet baby will be with you." Reaching over to the girl she pulled her close and drained her dry. Letting the corpse go Drusilla sighed, "I know Miss Edith but she asked so nicely to go see Mother Mary. Still, I hope Kitten will not be too cross with us." She smiled, "Or maybe he shall give us spankings, he could spank us with the cold princess, wouldn't that be fun?"

Several days later Drusilla had arrived in Sunnydale. It had not been hard, "Really Miss Edith why does my Spike always think it is so hard, We asked the lovely man for a ride and he flew us like a bird he did. All the way to where the Sun shines so brightly with the fires of Hell. Yes, Yes, Ms. Edith, he was very nice to invite us for tea. A proper gentleman he was. And he'll wait for us when he wakes up because mummy told him to wait." Drusilla hummed to herself as she walked and talked, " Now let's find the blond tramp. Teach her to covet our Spike. She never learned her Sunday school manner's now we must teach her. And we shall have such fun. With spanking and flogging, and licks and bites."

Walking towards the cars parked at the Sunnydale airport a baggage handler was staring blankly ahead as he followed Drusilla. He pushed a large cart filled with trunks and suitcases. None of them belonged to Drusilla but she had pointed them out and he had grabbed them.

Drusilla had him load up the bags into an airport truck and then told him where to drive to. Luckily for other people on the road it was late. Because it was Sunnydale no one even would have commented on the fact that the truck was driving on the wrong side of the road. Pulling up to a house Drusilla told the man, "Now be a lovely boy and take all my things inside, I shall go and talk to the little girl about how naughty she has been; coveting my Spike."

Opening the door to the house Drusilla stalked inside. Harmony had been hiding ever since almost getting staked by Buffy. The house had belonged to Shanice-well, to Shanice's parents, before they ate them. And it was nice enough. But what Harmony really wanted was her blondie bear back, he made her feel safe. When the door opened Harmony screamed.

Drusilla smiled, "Now, now little tramp. It's not the time for pretty screams. No not the time at all." Walking over to Harmony, Drusilla grabbed her by the hair and pulled her up and into her. Drusilla bent down inhaling as she ran her face up Harmony's body starting at her chest and ending as she was putting her lips right on Harmony's lips. "Hello, my little pony girl. We shall have such fun riding."

Never let it be said Harmony was smart, and if it was said, someone would be lying. She tried to pull herself away from Drusilla's grip saying, "Ew, crazy lesbo slut. Get off me." Her ineffectual swatting at Drusilla's hands made the crazy vampire smile

"Oh shall I take you over my knee," Drusilla purred to Harmony, "Yes some lovely spanks to make you behave. But you must count for me," Drusilla picked up the struggling Harmony and sat down, bending the blond over her knees she pinned her arms behind her back. "Now, now, my lovely little pony. There are no unicorns for you. The unicorns are only for the pure. And you've been oh so naughty." Drusilla raised her hand and said, "So Auntie must now give you spanks. And once you learn maybe Auntie will let you go play. Isn't that nice?"

Drusilla smiled at Harmony, her hand raised in the air, waiting for the blond to reply. "Let me go you crazy bitch," Harmony yelled.

Drusilla stopped smiling. "For your potty mouth, Auntie will have to spank harder." Drusilla started to spank Harmony. The rest of Harmony's night was spent with Drusilla either spanking her or caressing her. At first, Harmony struggled and cursed but vampires don't tire out. Drusilla spanked her ass and back for over an hour. She even had the human bring her a switch. The piece of wood drew blood from her back and thighs. Periodically Drusilla would lean down and lick the blood from her back, telling her she was being a good girl for Auntie.

Unfortunately for the vampiric spirit that possessed Harmony, she had never been a leader. She liked to think she could lead the Cordettes better than Cordelia ever could, but when Cordy had started dating that loser Xander and Harmony got her chance, things just didn't work out. Then Cordy dumped him and took everything back. Harmony had cried, it wasn't fair. Then she had been turned at graduation, and everything was so hard. She had recently turned Shanice but the other Cordettes wouldn't invite her in or they had moved away. At heart, Harmony was a sheep with delusions of being a wolf. And Drusilla, she was a rabid wolf.

By the end of her punishment Harmony was sobbing and saying, "I promise Auntie, I'll be a good girl. Please let me be a good girl for you."

Drusilla smiled and pulled the sobbing blonde up to her. She hugged her and kissed her on the cheek. "Oh you will be so good, but you must always listen to Auntie. If you do you'll live with the princesses but if you don't it's mud for you my little pony." Drusilla let go of Harmony, "Now Auntie has brought prezzies and snacks for her little girl. Doesn't that sound fun?"

Harmony nodded, "Presents? You brought me presents?" Harmony's voice was filled with excitement.

"Yes Auntie did," Drusilla said. "A good Auntie always brings her little one's presents. Now after dinner, we shall open your prezzies." Drusilla turned Harmony around to where the still enthralled man was standing. "Come, come, it's time for dinner." Drusilla vamped out and led Harmony over to the man. "My little pony must eat so she can be strong."

Harmony followed; vamping out she said, "Thank you, Auntie," as both vampires bit into the man's neck. The corpse fell to the ground, Drusilla looked at it and Harmony knew she should say something. "I'll move him to the shed Auntie. That way he doesn't stink up the house."

"Oh what a good little child you are for Auntie." Drusilla bent forward and licked the blood from around Harmony's face. "Now hurry up, we have much to do."

Harmony picked up the corpse and ran to the backyard. Opening the shed where Shanice's parents were decomposing she threw the body inside. Closing the door she ran back inside to Drusilla.

Drusilla was sitting on the couch, her legs together in a very ladylike fashion, "Come sit by Aunties' feet whilst she tells you how we shall get our lovely Spike back." Harmony sat down at Drusilla's feet and lay her head on Drusilla's lap. Drusilla stroked Harmony's hair while she talked. "Our Spike has been a naughty boy he has. He tried to drink another slayer down and the mad doctor scooped him back up. But tomorrow the mad doctor will become a queen. She'll be a queen of snakes all crawly and slithery. When the men from the stone circle come to get her, we'll go get our Spike. But you must be sure to listen, because the first man wants to be her prime, and if he sees us it's all dusty we'll be. The snake queen doesn't like us, she's mean and nasty. So you must be a good girl and listen to everything Auntie says. Once we have our Spike back off we'll fly to the land of darkness. And Spike will help us turn into tigers, all colored and glowy, it will be ever so pretty."

"Can I be a unicorn Auntie?" Harmony asked.

"Only if you do everything Auntie says," Drusilla replied. As the sun came up the two vampires sat and talked about what would be happening later that night.

Hathor brought up Colonel Maybourne on the computer. "What the hell is going on?" Maybourne demanded.

"Colonel Maybourne, I attempted to free the girl as you ordered. She attacked me and my men. I then allowed her to think she escaped from the base. At this time she is free just as you ordered," Hathor said.

Maybourne looked out of the screen at her, "If I find out you're lying, no one will ever find your body. Why do we show there are still alarms going off?"

"Because during her escape, the girl damaged several systems. I have ordered the base to be locked down while we are reviewing how she escaped. That will allow me to keep the men busy here rather than trying to hunt her," Hathor lied.

"Fine," Maybourne said, "I understand new orders will be cut within the next twenty-four hours. They will be directing you to shut down the project and destroy all the subjects. I want you to immediately arrange for transport of project Mariposa. We'll be sending someone to the auxiliary exit to pick up the specimens."

Hathor nodded, "Would it be possible, Col. Maybourne, for you to initiate a communications system outage? That would allow us to have more time to move the specimens without endangering them." Hathor hoped the fool would say yes. If she could cut the men in here off from the outside, it would help her move everything so much faster.

Maybourne looked at Walsh, "At least the bitch has some decent ideas," he thought. "I'm sorry to hear about your communications problem, I understand that when hard lines go down it can take a day or two to repair. Good luck." Maybourne cut the connection and using a small device hooked to a satellite he pushed in a code. The code actually destroyed the main trunk line leading into Sunnydale. So all of Sunnydale was now without landline phones and internet connections. Even the cable would be out for the small city. At the same time, a virus was attacking the satellites which would have provided cell phone service to the area, and part of Los Angeles.

Hathor smiled as the fool stopped talking. Opening her door she saw one of the agents waiting for her. Ripping through her host's memories she called out, "Agent Gates, this base is now on lockdown. Until further orders, there will be no one in or out. All outside communication must come through me. Now I have an experiment I need to check on. Make sure any of the men harmed in the breakout are taken to the infirmary. I want you to meet me in my lab in one hour with a report on conditions inside of the base."

Hathor's first stop on her way to her lab was the storage of Goa'uld equipment. She was ecstatic. Not only was there a Kara Kesh, but the fools also had a portable shield generator. Of course, without a Goa'uld to activate it; it was probably useless to them. Still, it had enough power to last for over a year. After configuring the shield specifications, she quickly turned it on. Now no one would be able to get into the base until she was ready.

Moving to the lab, Hathor took another twenty minutes to prepare the Nish'ta, adding in her own host bodies fluids to key it to herself. When Agent Gates came to report he became her first slave. Hathor quickly moved through the base. Any women she found she killed with the Kara Kesh. By the time two hours had passed every living human in the base was under her control.

Moving to the lab where she knew the Adam creature was, Hathor began examining it. She laughed at her host's stupidity. She had mixed in Goa'uld technology with the computer system she built into Adam. The thing would have been loyal to the computer's original system lord, Apophis, if she hadn't rewritten that part of its code. Turning Adam on she waited for the creature to come alive. Adam sat up. Looking at her he said, "You are my mother."

Hathor smiled, her eyes lighting up with white light, b"I am your Goddess, Hathor. You shall serve me as my first prime."/b."

Programming took over as the creature recognized its mistress. Bowing its head Adam said, "I live to serve you, my Goddess. What are your orders?"

b"Go to the infirmary of this place. Take the wounded soldier. Kill them and the demons you will find in their cells. Begin creating my army of servants."/b Hathor ordered.

Adam bowed his head, "Yes my Goddess." Standing up from the table he had been laying on he went to fulfill her commands.

Riley had been waiting nearly an hour, why the hell was he still here? He decided to try and turn on the TV in the motel room. Nothing but static greeted him. Following a very bad feeling Riley picked up the phone and tried to get a dial tone. He only heard dead air. Turning to the area where Kennedy and John were talking he said, "Cable seems to be out and the landline is dead. Do either of you have a cell phone?"

John stood up, "Yes, one minute, let me check if I can still get a signal." Opening his phone John saw he had no signal. "Strange. I had excellent reception here before, but now I am getting nothing."

"I've got a really bad feeling about this," Riley said.

At the SGC Xander was feeling frustrated. The talks between themselves and the representatives of the Asgard and the governments of the United States and Great Britain had started. Xander had been looking for Colonel O'Neill since he got back and couldn't find him.  
None of the military personnel knew where he was either. Finally, after getting lost for the umpteenth time, he decided to try another approach. He tried to find Jack like he had last time. Without SG-1 helping - it was much more difficult. But he was able to sense him.

Xander orbed into Jack's office. Jack was playing on his Game Boy. Looking up Jack said, "What's up kid?"

"I've been looking for you for the last twenty minutes," Xander complained. "We've got a problem. The girl Kennedy, she says that before she got out of the Initiative Walsh tried to feed her to a Goa'uld."

"What?" Jack dropped his game boy as he sat up. "How the hell would she know what one is and why would they have one?"

"Look I don't know," Xander said. "But she said she managed to cause Walsh to become the host instead of her. Which means that the leader of a Secret military base that deals with demons may now be a Goa'uld."

Jack was already getting to his feet. "Let's go kid. We need to talk to General Hammond and try to get someone on the line from that base."

The next two hours were a great example to Xander of why bureaucracies suck. Getting the N.I.D. to admit the base existed was problematic. Even when they pointed out that the closing of the base by the President was one of the requirements for the talks they were having.

When they finally received the contact information, it was useless. The base was having communications issues. The main trunk-line for phone, cable and internet had some kind of a problem. When they checked the L.A. news they saw that the number one news update for L.A. was the loss of cellular coverage due to a computer virus.

Jack turned to General Hammond, "Sir, this is too many coincidences. I'm recommending you declare a foothold." As Hammond's second in command (2IC) Jack wanted to be on the record as supporting the call.

Hammond picked up his phone, it was less than a minute before he was talking to the President. "Mr. President," Hammond began. "Sir, I am declaring a foothold situation in Sunnydale California. The N.I.D. base has been compromised and taken over by an unknown Goa'uld. All communications have been disrupted in the area. I recommend we immediately begin moving troops into the area, to prevent further problems."

The President was talking, Hammond responded, "Unknown at this time Mr. President. Yes, Sir, I will ask the Asgard and the Furlings if they will assist us. As soon as I have an update I will contact you...Yes, Sir." Hammond hung up the phone.

Turning to Jack and Xander, Hammond said, "Col. O'Neill, please go with Mr. Giles and ask the Asgard for assistance. Mr. Giles, the President has formally asked that as a representative of the Furling Descendants if you would assist us."

Xander nodded, "Yeah, of course."

Jack looked at the kid, "Can you take me up to Thor's ship?"

"Can we try calling them first?" Xander said, "Orbing that far really takes it out of me."

Jack nodded; he really hadn't thought about that. Leaving Hammond's office Jack heard Hammond issuing orders to prepare all SGC teams for combat and contact all off duty or off base personnel with immediate recall orders. It took ten more minutes to get ahold of the Asgard. Once they requested to beam up, they found themselves in the room where the Representatives had been meeting.

"Col. O'Neill, what is the problem?" Thor asked.

"Thor, we've come to ask your help. We believe that a Goa'uld has taken over a U.S. Military base in Sunnydale California. Could you assist us in taking it back?" Jack asked.

"I am sorry, O'Neill," Thor said. "But the Treaty between yourselves, the Goa'uld and the Asgard only allow us to assist in the event of an attack on the planet. An isolated incident would not allow us to assist you."

Both of the representatives for the US and British were already talking trying to find out what was happening. Giles approached Xander, "Xander, what's going on?" Xander looking around decided to try and fill everyone in at once.

Yelling as loudly as he could, "Everybody shut the Hell up." The people trying to talk over each other stopped and looked at him. "Look, sit down. I'll tell you what we know and what we suspect, then we can talk." It took another twenty minutes for Xander to explain what they knew of the Initiative, and how Kennedy had escaped.

As Xander finished, Jack looked at him with approval. "Kid did a good job," Jack thought to himself.

Giles looked at the table, standing he said, "The Goa'uld are a problem but any military personnel entering that base will most likely be killed. We know that the Initiative has been capturing demons. If they release them your men wouldn't know how to fight them. You're going to need our help. Buffy and Faith can go in with a team. Also, there is a team of former British S.A.S. soldiers in Sunnydale right now. If we can convince the Watchers Council to give us written orders for them they might assist us."

The British representative, Lord Reginald Thompson, had received orders directly from Her Majesty and the PM earlier that day to do anything he needed to make sure Britain was included in this treaty. "Mr. Giles, If I can contact my Government I can ask Her Majesty to recall these men to active service. Would they accept the orders if they come from Her Majesty?"

Giles was shocked; he really hadn't seen how far things had progressed. "I believe they would. I have only met Captain Chandler a few times but he struck me as a man of honor. He would not deny the Queen's command."

"Do you have a way to get the order's to Captain Chandler and his men once I have them?" Lord Reginald asked.

"If you can get a video link showing the orders on a desk, I can go get them," Xander told Lord Reginald.

"Very good then," Lord Reginald said. "If you will excuse me I will need to be ah transported back to our embassy. How shall I contact you once you the order are ready?"

"I'm going to have to go with you," Xander said after a moment's thought. "That way you can call my cell phone and I'll know where to go." Turning to Jack and the others. "Once I'm done there I can orb back to the SGC, and start bringing teams to Sunnydale. Since the Asgard can't help with transportation, I will orb as many as I can."

Jack nodded. "I know everyone may be worried, however, once Xander has the orders from the British, please keep doing what you were doing. These talks in some ways are just as important." Jack turned to Thor, "Would it be possible to give us a way to call you so that we can ask to be brought up when we're done?"

"Of course, Colonel O'Neill," Thor said. "I will also give Lord Thompson a communications device so that he may call us to be brought back up." Thor paused and said, "While we may not assist you, Colonel O'Neill, our ship's sensors have detected a Goa'uld shield in what you call Sunnydale, California. It appears to be partially underground."

"Thank you, Thor," Jack politely said. Internally he was saying, "Shit, they've got shields."

Once down at the SGC Jack was in the main conference room. The President was online along with the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his top military advisors. The first question they had to address was where to assemble the men. The local army base was also out of communication. It was decided that Colonel O'Neill would be in overall command of the mission. The President had order's drawn up for the Sunnydale base Commander to turn over controlling authority of the base to Colonel O'Neill. Once they had the orders Jack was going to be taken to Sunnydale. Unfortunately, that would also cut off their communication with him, at least until they could get the satellites back.

One of the big questions that the President's advisors had was how they were going to spin this for the news. Giles actually interrupted them. "Gentlemen, I do not believe you understand the terrain the battle will be fought on. Sunnydale sits over a dimensional rift. The rift has an unusual side effect. Most people simply ignore, rationalize, or forget anything out of the ordinary." Giles smiled, "We could take a full troop of the Free Jaffa and march them through Sunnydale and the next day half the people would have forgotten it. The other half would have created some plausible reason for it. But no one would question it."

Jack sat up. "Dr. Giles, are you serious?" Jack asked. "Could we really get a troop of Jaffa and have them be ignored there? Because from what you've already told us about possibly facing demons, I would rather have staff weapons and zat'nik'tels than bullets."

The President was thinking about the briefing he had received. "Col. O'Neill, based on the briefing I received I believe Dr. Giles is correct. I want you to make sure all of our men are using Goa'uld weapons. Hell, see if you can get the Jaffa to loan us some."

Jack nodded, "Sir, if it is alright I will have Teal'c contact the Free Jaffa. He should be able to get us some help."

Xander had received the call from Lord Reginald, heading to the British embassy. He asked them to show the room he needed to go to on a video. Once he had the picture of it; he orbed to England. What he didn't know was that he was being sent to Her Majesty's private residence inside Buckingham Palace.

As he materialized he heard a woman's voice, "Oh, my. That is something one does not see every day." Turning he saw an older woman. It took him a moment to realize this was Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second. Knowing Dad would kill him if he screwed up here, Xander did his best. Bowing to her, he said, "Your Majesty, I'm sorry but I didn't know you would be here."

The Queen looked at this young man in front of her. She had read the reports from her Council spies. She knew he fought the creatures of darkness. And it was only recently he had shown his extraordinary heritage. "We are pleased to meet you, Lord Alexander." She said.

Xander didn't know what to say, "Ah, I'm sorry but I'm not a Lord. Just plain Xander."

The Queen smiled at him. "That is where you are incorrect young man. We know of everything you have accomplished fighting the forces of Darkness. We are also aware of what your father has done. We have decided that once this crisis has passed, you and your family will come to us. We will create your father as the Earl of Kent. We have prepared these papers for your father. Please pass them to him and give him Our Thanks for his service."

"Um Yes, Your Majesty," Xander paused and grinned at her, "But you do know Tara and I aren't English."

The Queen smiled at him, "We are aware of that failing yes, It is a shame you have not been blessed to be British before now. However, We will correct that grievous shortcoming in your nature when next we meet."

Xander wasn't sure but he thought the Queen had just told a joke. "I look forward to it then, Your Majesty." Taking both the papers he had originally come for and the ones addressed to Giles, Xander orbed first to Sunnydale.

Orbing into the room with a slayer is never the wisest of ideas. Xander managed to avoid being hit and Kennedy recognized him quickly enough to stop attacking. Looking around, Xander asked, "Where's Riley?"

"He took off, said that with the communications down he needed to get back to his men. That was about two hours ago," Kennedy said.

John was looking at Xander. He knew Mr. Giles had lied to him and the Council, as to the extent of the young man's abilities. "Why have you returned?"

"Look sorry to bother you, but that Goa'uld is in the process of taking over a US military base that also happens to be filled with demons. I need to talk to Captain Chandler. Do you know if he is still here?" Xander asked. He really didn't care what some stuck up watcher thought of him.

"Yes, I believe he is in his room. He and his men were going to be leaving in the morning," John answered.

"Cool," Xander opened the door and went to room seventeen. Knocking on the door he only had to wait a moment until one of Captain Chandler's men opened it. Walking in, Xander went up to Captain Chandler, "Captain," He began, holding out the documents he had received from the Queen. "Her Majesty asked that you be given this immediately."

Chandler refused to take the documents. "What the bloody hell are you playing at boy? I'll warn you this once but if you ever try to pull some stunt like this in Her Majesty's name again, I will beat the bloody piss out of you."

Xander grinned at him, "Sorry it's not a joke. Those came directly from Her Majesty, not even twenty minutes ago." Chandler was pissed. How dare this boy! He reached back and threw a punch at Xander's face, he'd wipe that grin from the little shit's mouth. Xander saw the punch coming, and OK maybe he was playing a little. But as Chandler swung Xander orbed.

"What the bloody hell was that?" One of Chandler's men said. Xander knocked on the door from outside the room. Opening it the men were amazed to see him standing there.

"Look I recommend you look at those papers," Xander said. "They really did come from Her Majesty."

Chandler was about to go off when one of his men, who had picked up the documents said, "Bloody hell Bing, it's real."

Chandler grabbed the papers and started reading them. Xander, however, looked at him, "Bing? Your name is Bing. So you'd be Chandler Bing?" He started to laugh and several of the men did as well.

"Bloody Americans," Chandler said. "No, my name is not Bing! Ever since that bloody show started this lot like to yank my tallywacker and call me Bing." He looked at the papers one last time. "These are real?"

"As real as it gets," Xander said.

"All right you lot," Chandler called out. "Get your sorry arses in gear we're moving out in ten minutes. Her Majesty has just personally recalled all of us to active duty, we are to report to the Sunnydale Army base where we will be under the command of Colonel Jonathan 'Jack' O'Neill."

"What the bloody hell are you on?" One of the men asked.

"Her Majesty has called, we will answer her call. Now move your arses or so help me God, I will kick them back to England." Chandler yelled.

"When you get to the gate at the base just tell the guards who you are," Xander said. "They're expecting you." Chandler nodded and Xander orbed back to the SGC. He had more people to bring to the party.

Arriving back at the SGC Xander quickly grabbed Giles. Handing him the papers he said, "Ah her Majesty asked me to give these to you."

Giles dropped the papers, "Her Majesty? Dear Lord, please tell me you are joking?"

"No, sorry Dad," Xander grinned. "She was waiting for me when I went to pick up Captain Chandler's orders. She was really...nice. She even cracked a joke, I think."

Giles wasn't sure if he wanted to pound his head into the wall. "Are you telling me that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second, was cracking jokes with you?" Xander winced Giles voice might have gotten a little loud at the end.

"Dad," Xander began, "She called me Lord Alsexander. When I said I wasn't a Lord she said something about fixing that. I mentioned I wasn't English and I think she said something like no one's perfect. Just read the papers."

Giles opened the papers. Reading them twice he felt the need to sit down. "Dear God in his Heavens," Giles said. His son had met the Queen! And the Queen had written to him personally. Her Majesty had told him how much she appreciated his work to help battle the forces of Darkness. She had also said that once the crisis was passed she required his presence and that of his family in England where he would be created the new Earl of Kent.

Xander left Giles alone. He could tell that the letter had been a shock to him, but he figured that Giles would be fine soon. Heading back to the Gate room Xander continued to orb groups to the Sunnydale base. He was only taking four men at a time. With their gear, Xander had estimated he was orbing around fifteen to sixteen hundred pounds with every trip. He was starting to feel the strain. Xander knew he that was needed, at least until they got communications back up, until then he was the quickest way to pass information.

Jack had sent a team to the initiative frat house, hoping that they could pull some of the men out. Riley had recognized the insignia on their uniforms immediately. Once he was alone with the SGC personnel, Riley explained that the Goa'uld had initiated a lockdown. No one was able to get into the base. Riley was ordered to gather all of his men and report to the Sunnydale base. A small team stayed at the frat house to watch the entrance to the base.

Once Riley and his remaining men reported to the base Riley was brought to Colonel O'Neill. Jack handed him the orders he had received from the President. "Captain Finn, right now I don't know what to make of you. Covert operations on US soil that target Americans," Jack paused. "Have you even read the Constitution?"

"Sir," Riley began. "My men and I never targeted humans. I have only led them against suspected HST's Sir."

"You targeted bMy Daughter/b you sorry excuse for a soldier." Jack wasn't screaming. But his voice was filled with menace.

Riley actually lost his composure, "What? Your Daughter Sir?"

"Yes bMy Daughter, Faith Arlene Summers/b the girl you ordered your men to capture or kill," Jack continued. "Is this bringing up any memories, Captain?"

"Oh Shit," Riley said.

"Captain, I don't believe there is a phrase that would honestly state how deep you have stepped in it," Jack smiled, a very grim smile. "If I didn't need you and your men to clean up this mess I would personally ask the President to ship all of you to the blackest hole on Earth."

"Sir," Riley said. "Please, my men had no idea. They believed Faith was an HST, only I was told she was a Goa'uld. If you want to destroy my career fine. But my men deserve better."

Jack actually smiled at that, "Maybe you aren't a complete waste of skin Captain Finn. But I can guarantee you this. You and I will have a reckoning about your attack on my daughter. Depending on how you do during this mission, the meeting will either be an official or unofficial one. Prove you are worthy of wearing that uniform; and it will just be you, me and the mat."

Riley looked Col. O'Neill in the eyes. "Sir, I can guarantee neither I nor my men will fail to live up to the standards we swore to uphold." He could deal with getting his ass kicked by Jack O'Neill. He had read the man's file. He probably wouldn't win but he would make sure the Colonel knew he had been there. "And I will look forward to seeing you on the mat."  
_

Xander had returned to the SGC and was just finishing his food, when he heard the base alarm go off, followed by an announcement, "Incoming Wormhole." He decided to go see what was going on. Reaching the Gateroom he spotted Teal'c and a whole lot of guys in funky armor.

They were carrying some kind of staff and every single one of them had a tattoo on their head. He heard one old guy talking to the General, "Hammond of Texas," Master Bra'tac said. "Teal'c informed us of your fight against the Goa'uld and the Orak Ha'taaka. These thirty Jaffa demanded to accompany us to aid you in your fight. We have also brought with us additional staff weapons and zat'nik'tel."

"Thank you, Master Bra'tac," General Hammond said. He hoped what Dr. Giles had said about Sunnydale was true. "We will arrange for you transportation to our forward area as soon as possible."

Xander walked up to the group, "Someone said they needed a lift? Hey, Teal'c you brought friends."

Teal'c nodded, "Master Bra'tac, allow me to introduce Alexander Lavelle Giles of the Furlings."

Bra'tac looked at Teal'c, "Surely you jest? The Goa'uld under Ra destroyed the Furling people thousands of years ago."

"Once again we see that the false Gods lie," Teal'c said. "Thor of the Asgard confirmed that Alexander Giles is Furling. He and his family are dedicated warriors against the Orak Ha'taaka. He himself possess abilities far beyond the false gods. His future mate, the daughter of Colonel O'Neill, Faith Summers, is a warrior to rival the tales of the Hoktar."

Master Bra'tac looked over the young man in front of him. "Teal'c my friend, never have I had reason to doubt you. It must be as you have said. This is a day to rejoice. Great battle lies before us, and we will be joined in it by an ancient enemy of the False Gods."

The other Jaffa cheered at Master Bra'tac's statement. Xander was a little stunned. These guys were as hyped up to go fight as Buffy was when she couldn't slay anything for a week. "Master Bra'tac, I'll be taking you and your Jaffa to Sunnydale. Has Teal'c told you about Sunnydale?"

"Yes, Alexander of Furling. He told us his tales of fighting creatures of legend: the blood drinking Orak Ha'taaka. He also told us that he personally witnessed other kinds of creatures in the place called 'Willy's'. My Jaffa will not fall before the enemy," Master Bra'tac answered.

"Alright then, I want to take two men at a time," Xander said. The armor these guys were wearing looked heavy.

Master Bra'tac called out, "Jaffa Kree, form into pairs so that we may begin." The Jaffa followed Master Bra'tac's order. Xander began orbing them to Sunnydale.

Watching Xander disappear in blue lights, Master Bra'tac turned to Teal'c. "We are living in a time of legends, my apprentice. Orak Ha'taaka have returned and the Furlings will battle at our side. Surely soon we will see the downfall of the False Gods."

It took almost an hour to move the Jaffa and their weapons to Sunnydale. Xander's last trip brought Buffy, Joyce, and Faith to Sunnydale. Everyone else had stayed; the negotiations were still going on aboard the Sleipnir. Xander was confident that between Cordelia and everyone else they would do alright.

At Sunnydale, Xander was surprised to see the new slayer there. He quickly found Jack and asked him, "Why are you letting the new slayer come along?"

"Captain Chandler volunteered to have her with his men," Jack said. "Honestly, if I could I would leave her. But unless I arrest or shoot her, I couldn't stop her. Bing will be in the second wave. The first wave will be SG-3, 5, and 10, they're being paired with half the Jaffa. Buffy and Faith will also be in the first wave." Jack didn't look happy adding that last part.

"Count me in the first wave. Once I'm down there I'll be able to orb back and forth to get people in faster." Xander knew this would be a bad fight. "Will we have doctors ready? Besides Joyce I mean."

"Yeah you brought Fraiser earlier," Jack looked at Xander. "You going to be OK for this Kid?"

"How long until you're moving?" Xander asked.

"We should be finished going over everything in an hour, then loading up the vehicles, figure about two hours," Jack said.

"Then show me where I can sleep for two hours. Wake me when we're ready to go." Xander said.

"Kid you're going to need gear," Jack said. "The other guys will be using guns. I had Faith and Buffy fitted earlier today. But you still need basic gear."

"Faith knows my sizes," Xander said with a yawn. "Have her get it for me, you're going to need me tonight and I need some rest." Jack nodded and sent Xander to a nearby room that had a cot in it. Xander had barely closed his eyes when he was already asleep.

When night had fallen, Drusilla led Harmony out of the house. She told Harmony to take them to the Hospital first. "Why are we going here, Auntie?" Harmony asked.

"My Spike is going to be hungry. And we will need to have some snacks for the trip," A slightly more lucid Drusilla said. Entering the hospital through a side door, a guard approached them to find out if they were lost. After asking if they needed any help. Drusilla said, "Oh what a lovely boy you are. Look into mummy's eyes, be in my eyes," Drusilla purred, "You can take us to the tasty little bags. So full of yummy blood."

The guard quickly took the two to the blood storage. Harmony grabbed a cooler and started loading bags into it. By the time they were done, Sunnydale had none left in the hospital. Taking a small bag to keep with them, Drusilla told the guard, "Now you will be a good boy and go visit mummy's new child at the airplane. He'll know just what to do with you. You make sure to tell him his Mummy sent you." the guard nodded his head and left following Drusilla's orders.

Once they left the Hospital Drusilla had Harmony drive toward Shady Pines Cemetery. Getting out of the truck Drusilla was still humming. "Come along my little pony. We have to hurry up to wait." Drusilla led Harmony through a crypt down into the tunnels under Sunnydale. The man made tunnels gave way to caves that twisted and turned. By the time Drusilla told her to stop Harmony was completely lost.

"There now," Drusilla said. "It's time to wait. We must be patient, my kitten is bringing the men from the stone ring. Oh, he's brought Jaffa cakes as well. But they won't be covered in blood tonight. No, the only blood that will flow will be from all of the Snake Queen's men." Drusilla turned to stare at Harmony. "Now the snake queen's men, their blood doesn't taste right but you will need to eat it all up. It will make you grow strong. So when Auntie tells you to eat all your food you'll be a good pony won't you?"

Harmony nodded at Drusilla, "I promise Auntie. Do you know what Spike will tell the Darkness?"

Drusilla reached over to Harmony, "Of course Auntie does, my sweet little pony."

As she hummed her song Harmony had to ask, "And you promise I can be a unicorn, Auntie?"

Drusilla nodded and pulled out a paper, "See here ducky," on the bottom of the paper where the words, iAnd Harmony gets to be a Unicorn./i

Harmony hopped up, "Oh thank you, Auntie, you're the best Auntie ever." Harmony hugged Drusilla, everything was so much better now.

"But remember," Drusilla said. "If Auntie says to run you must run as fast as you can. If you stop you'll get all muddy."

"But Auntie," Harmony whined, "I'm already muddy from the caves!"

"Yes, my little pony you are," Drusilla said. "But if you don't listen to Auntie you will never be clean from the mud. No no no, you'll always be muddy if you don't listen."  
_

I need to Thank everyone who has left a review here at FanFiction,net So many of them have been positive. In fact it's funny the only nasty ones were from Guest users. Actually rereading I saw one of them actually left his name so good for you ShaiGar. I'm glad you didn't post anonymously..

Des, I can state Shemp is not Chuck as far as I know Chuck will not be making an appearance. And Shemp wields a rubber chicken +5 save vs, sanity when it hits.

Thank you for your consistently reviewing and giving positive feedback

SeanHicks4, WanderingDragonborn, ActualTurtle3, I want to thank all of you for reviewing. It really doe mean a lot to me. 


	22. Chapter 22

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate or Charmed. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.  
_

Chapter 22 _

Xander came awake as someone was shaking him. Opening his eyes he saw Faith standing over him. "Time to move it, Boytoy," Faith said. "Got your stuff right here." Faith pointed to a pile of clothes and vests.

Xander sat up. He really wanted more sleep, but he knew he wouldn't be getting it anytime soon. "Please tell me you have some coffee or something to wake me up?"

Faith grinned, "Nah the coffee here sucks, but I scored a six pack of these." Faith held up a six pack of Jolt cola.

Xander opened his eyes, "Ah the king of all Cola," he said grabbing one and opening it. After drinking half of the can at once, "Mmm that's good. Twice the caffeine and sugar of any normal soda. You just can't beat that."

Xander with Faith's help quickly got into the uniform and protective gear. Faith led him to where there were over twenty large trucks waiting. The backs of the trucks were filled with men and Jaffa. Three jeeps looked like they were originally designed to have a machine gun mounted on them. They now had some kind of oversized staff weapon.

"Holy Twinkies!" Xander exclaimed. He may have been acting as the Ferry to transport most of the men and equipment from the SGC, but he really had not conceived of how large and well armed this group would be.

"Move it, Boytoy," Faith said. "Don't want to be left behind." Faith took him to a Humvee, Inside, Jack was sitting along with Sam, and Buffy.

Once Xander and Faith were inside, Jack told the driver, "Move out." Xander watched as the familiar streets of Sunnydale rolled by. He was not really focusing on anything and almost missed it. "Was that a tank?" Xander asked.

Jack grinned, "Easiest way to make an access point. We're going to drive it through Lowell House. Once we can access the shields, the Jaffa will be firing the main weapons from several death gliders. We mounted them on the jeeps." Jack paused. "When the shields go down, we blow the elevator and start sending teams down. Buffy and Faith are assigned to each other. I want you to try and stay with them."

"I thought you'd want me to bring more men in?" Xander asked.

"If I need you to do that I'll radio you. Also, Faith picked out your call signs along with Buffy so blame them." Jack smirked.

"Call sign. Do I even want to know?" Xander looked at Buffy and Faith.

"Hey stud," Faith smirked. "I wanted to go with Boytoy but B wouldn't let me."

"Oh thank you, Buffy," Xander gratefully said.

"You're welcome, Wings," Buffy replied.

"Wings," Xander recognized the name from Faith. "Could be a lot worse. What about you two?"

"Winter," Faith said.

"And I'm Summer," Buffy added.

"Yeah, Dad almost shot that one down," Faith said. "Had to tell him about the whole daughter of thing. He agreed only when we said we wouldn't assign the new slayer the callsign of Brat."

"I still say we should have done that," Buffy said. "I mean she's been a slayer for what? Less than a week and she thinks she knows everything."

"You're just pissed she called you old," Faith said.

"I'm not old," Buffy said. "I'm not even twenty yet, still a teenager, here."

Xander sat back as they continued on. Tonight was going to be a long night.  
_

Arriving at the campus, the trucks drove on the grounds, parking as close as possible to Lowell house. As the men got out of the vehicles they formed into their groups. Everyone was waiting, and then the tank arrived. It plowed into the building, ripping through the walls. It was a thing of beauty, and when it hit the shield it actually bounced back. The shield was barely visible to the naked eye. When the tank hit it a red ripple could be seen flowing from the point of impact.

As most of the upper floor of the house sagged and fell to the ground, the tanks were used to run over the debris, stomping it flat. Within ten minute of starting everyone had a clear view of the shielded portions of the house and the elevator wall.

Three jeeps pulled forward as the tank moved off. It was already heading back for the base. The Jaffa behind the weapons aimed them and began firing. A loud sizzling sound, accompanied by a bright red light accompanied every shot.

The sky was quickly glowing from the light generated by the weapons. Jack was amazed: no one had come out to see what was going on. While he knew Rupert had told them the truth, he really hadn't gotten it in his gut until now. Somehow Sunnydale just made people weird.

In a nearby Engineering lab, a trio of young men were watching everything. And while everything Giles had said about the Sunnydale Syndrome was true, he left out one very important group. Those who knew what went on, both the good and the bad. They didn't rationalize everything away.

Warren, Jonathan, and Andrew had been holding a late night gaming session in Warren's lab. As normal, Several fights had broken out between Jono and Andrew over the rules. Warren had been ready to call it a night when they heard the sounds of the military vehicles coming.

The trio watched as a tank took out Lowell house. Warren was laughing as the house came down. "Serves those stupid Jocks right," Warren said.

"Warren, why are they attacking?" Jono asked.

"Who cares?" Warren replied. He was just enjoying the show. "But we need to record this. Andrew, get the camera." Andrew ran to set up the video camera. Once the tank was done the three jeeps started firing their weapons.

"They've got laser cannons," Jono said in awe.

"They're not lasers," Andrew said in a know-it-all tone. "Those are plasma blasters!"

"Lasers," Jono insisted. "No one has the tech to do plasma!" This, of course, devolved into a back and forth of Laser, Plasma, Laser, Plasma.

Right up until Warren shouted at them both, "Shut up! It doesn't matter that they are using plasma weapons."

Andrew smirked at that, mouthing "Told you so," to Jonathan.

"What matters is how we are going to get some of those," Warren continued. "Whatever they are using for a power source, it's got to be amazing. Think how much it will advance our plans. By this time next year, we will rule Sunnydale!"

Both Jono and Andrew nodded in agreement. Turning back to the show they continued watching. "What are those guys in the weird armor?" Jono asked pointing to the Jaffa.

Andrew looked at him, "Obviously those are special warrior priests. Look they don't carry any edged weapons, so they have to be some kind of a cleric force. They all have those weird staffs." Picking up a pair of binoculars, that if asked the trio would say they had no idea why they were there. Certainly not for leering at young women on campus. No someone must have left them in the lab. Andrew used them to get a closer look.

Handing them to Jono he said, "See? They're clerics, they have their holy symbols stamped on their foreheads in black."

Jono took the binoculars from his idiot friend. "They're not clerics," Jono said as he looked at the men.

"Yes, they are," Andrew insisted. "They have obviously come to fight a great evil. Bringing their advanced magic, which they have received from their gods to assist us. I bet they have like a secret holy temple on some remote mountain. And only the truly worthy can find them. Once they have passed all their tests and training, they receive the symbol of their gods. They then go forth to fight the forces of oppression."

Jonathan could tell Andrew was losing it, "And the guys with the gold symbol?" He could see an old white guy and a black man with gold symbols.

Andrew sneered, "They are the high priests, duh." How stupid could Jono be? "They are the highest of the clerics with the greatest powers. They've proved their worth in countless battles."

"Warren, what are they firing at? It looks like some kind of a shield," Jono asked. He really didn't want to keep talking to Andrew.

Warren thought, "Could be an energy shield, but how was it created?" Turning to his minions. "We need to get ready, once they start going wherever they are going, I bet there'll be tons of cool stuff down there. Just waiting for us to loot."

"Oh, it's probably an underground temple," Andrew said. "Dedicated to some snake demon god. Like the one that was here a few years ago. But bigger." Andrew was confident of his interpretation of the events, he really didn't understand why Jono didn't just accept that he was always right.

A larger blast of light filled the sky. The trio saw people moving up to the destroyed house. The jeeps were driving away. Looking through the binoculars, Jono said, "Isn't that Xander Harris?"

Andrew tried to grab the binoculars from Jono, "Let me see." This led to a slap fight as Jono tried to keep Andrew from strangling him with the cord attached to the glasses.

Warren stopped them both by grabbing the binoculars. Pulling them to himself he focused on the area, "It's that loser Harris, and he's got those chicks with him, Summers and Faith."

"Man Faith's hot," Jono said. Andrew looked at him, Jono responded, "Unless you're gay you have got to admit Faith is way hot."

"Hey don't call me gay," Andrew complained. "And she's not that hot. I mean she's no princess Leia. I prefer women of virtue unlike you."

Warren was ignoring the two minions. He saw Harris doing something. He was looking down a hole at something. Suddenly blue lights formed on a clear area of the ground. When they stopped shining, the wreckage of an elevator car could be seen. Warren watched as military guys started going into the hole. They were rappelling down ropes. About forty people had gone down the hole when Warren saw the two chicks grab onto Harris. Then they disappeared in a blue light.

"Shut up you two," Warren screamed at his minions. "You missed it! Harris can teleport. Those two chicks had to grab onto him and then he teleported them both. Do you realize what this means?"

Both Andrew and Jono looked at Warren, neither wanted to answer him incorrectly. "We just need to capture Harris. Then once we make him tell us the secrets to teleportation, we will be able to break into anywhere in the world. No bank or secret lab would be safe from us." Warren's monologue ended with a pathetic evil laugh. Jono and Andrew joined in.

Orbing Buffy and Faith down into the Initiative, Xander could hear the sounds of guns being fired. The men from the SGC and the Jaffa were mostly using the Zats. The men from the Initiative were firing bullets at them.

Xander wasn't sure if this was the right place for him, but he knew he had to help. Looking at the men facing them he smirked. "Guns" he called out. Blue lights formed around the weapons the initiatives men were holding. The weapons disappeared from their hands and reappeared at Xander's feet.

Xander watched as the now unarmed men of the Initiative yelled out, "For Hathor," as they attempted to charge the lines formed by the SGC and the Jaffa. They were instantly brought down by shots from the Zat'nik'tel.

One of the SGC men started barking orders to secure the prisoners. Xander, Faith, and Buffy began heading towards the area that would have the demon holding cells. Teal'c followed them leading his Jaffa. Reaching a wide open area, they were surprised: except for the initial firefight they really hadn't seen much resistance.

Buffy was happy, "Huh and you guys, thought this would be hard," Buffy said.

Xander groaned, A large TV screen on the wall came on. It showed a half man monstrosity. All over the Initiative base, wall screens showed the same thing. The half man half demon began speaking, "Warriors of the Tau'ri, you will lay down your weapons and surrender. Beg for mercy from your Goddess Hathor. If you surrender you will have a place in her army. You will be upgraded, and improved to serve her. Just like those who have already entered into her service." The screen cut away from the Monster to show more half demon things, Almost twenty of them. Standing at attention.

Cutting back to the man, he continued, "I am Adam, First Prime of Hathor. First, of the new race she has created. Join me and live."

You just had to say something didn't you, Buffy,' Xander asked.

"So not my fault," Buffy insisted. "There is no way that is my fault, nobody said anything about those thingies."

Drusilla and Harmony had been waiting for what Harmony swore were hours in the cave. Drusilla humming and singing. Harmony really didn't understand what Drusilla was talking about. But that had never bothered her before, so she didn't let it bother her now.

Finally, something happened: a small ripple of light crossed over the barrier in front of them. Drusilla stood up and clapped, "Oh the play is starting!" She looked over at Harmony, "Hurry! Soon we'll be able to go get my Spike." Harmony stood up from where she had been sitting on a rock.

"And once we get Spike we can leave these nasty caves?" Harmony asked. Drusilla looked disapprovingly at Harmony. Harmony began to panic, "I'm sorry Auntie please tell me what I did wrong? I promise I won't do it again."

"You're not going to listen to Auntie," Drusilla said. "And that means you're going to never be clean. My little pony will never be a white unicorn."

Harmony started to cry, "No, I'll listen, please I want to be a Unicorn."

Drusilla was about to say something else when the shield flashed and died, "Oh time to go get Spike," she cheerfully cried. "Come along my little pony." Harmony picked up the bag containing blood and followed Drusilla into the Initiative.

Drusilla led them to a door and stopped outside of it, "Now you must be very quiet for Auntie, the bad girls are in there. They stitch and sew, putting together the new men for the snake queen. But if you're quiet they shan't notice you at all. Say one peep and they shall make you all dusty."

Harmony nodded, "Yes, Auntie. I'll be very quiet." Drusilla opened the door. It led into a room filled with bodies. Corpses of men and demons were strewn about. There were women in white coats piecing them together. As they got closer Harmony saw that all the women were dead. She almost said something, but she remembered what Auntie had said and kept quite. Drusilla danced through the room, silent and beautiful. She listened to music only she could hear.

Once out of the room Drusilla hugged Harmony, "Oh well-done ducky, you were so good. Now Auntie has a treat. But remember even if they taste bad you must drink it up, up, up." Turning another corner there were four men with guns. They looked at them and began firing their weapons.

"Ow," Harmony said as the bullets hit her. Drusilla laughed as they both moved in to attack the men.

Once the first two men were knocked out, Drusilla grabbed one of the remaining two, "Drink them all up. Don't disappoint Auntie." She bit down and started draining the man. Harmony grabbed the other soldier and bit down.

Once the corpse dropped to the ground Harmony said, "That was gross. Yuck, I've never tasted blood that was so yucky." Drusilla was moving to one of the unconscious men and picking him up. "Do I have to drink him, Auntie?" Harmony whined.

Drusilla nodded, "Just drink him up. He'll help make you strong. So you can be a unicorn." Harmony obeyed and finished the other soldier. Drusilla led them further into the compound. Reaching a set of clear doors she plastered herself to the door, "Oh my beautiful boy, Spike. Mummy's here."

Spike had been laying on the cot in his cell. Ever since he had been re-captured by these soldier boys he had been stuck in this cell. He had thought they would end up dusting him. Then everything changed, none of the Soldiers looked right, and they started killing the women. Spike had laughed at the looks on the stupid bints faces when their friends killed them.

When Dru showed up at the door, Spike at first thought they had slipped him something. Getting closer he could smell her. "Dru," Spike said, his voice had hope. "You came for me Luv.?"

Drusilla looked at him, "Of course I did, you're my Spike. And no one gets to put you in cages but me. You like when I put you in a cage, don't you Spike?" Drusilla smiled at him. "Did you miss me?" she asked.

"Oh, Dru," Spike said. "Forever and always. You know I love you. Eyeballs to entrails, forever and always."

Drusilla clapped her hands, "Time to go, Spike, my little pony has some lovely blood for you but we must hurry before kitten gets here." Drusilla did something to the door. Spike didn't even ask how she could open it, she was Drusilla.

Moving out of the cell Spike was shocked, Harmony was standing to the side. "Oi, what the bloody hell is she doing here?"

"Blondie bear," Harmony said. "Auntie said we had to rescue you. And we brought blood for you. She said we're going on a trip." Harmony passed over blood packets to Spike. "And Auntie said I can be a unicorn!"

Spike had known the blonde was stupid. Hot, but stupid. Looking at her now he realized Dru had broken her. "We'll that sounds like fun," Spike said as he finished drinking. Reaching over to Drusilla, Spike passionately kissed her.

Drusilla giggled, "Not now Spike, Kitten is coming, with the princesses. If we stay he'll make us all dusty."

"Lead the way Luv," Spike said. After over one hundred years with Dru, he knew she was saying they would be killed if they stayed. Drusilla started going back the same way they had come. She stopped outside of a new door.

"We must hide," Drusilla said, "The Snake Queen's men will come soon and if they see us, it's all gone." Drusilla opened the door to reveal a room with two beds in it. One was occupied. The man in the bed looked to be in pain, he was sweating as if he had been sick for days.

"Help me," the man asked barely able to move.

"Now Spike," Drusilla said. "I know he's not yummy at all. But you must eat him up. You must be strong for the darkness. So be a good boy for Mummy and eat all your food."

Spike kissed Drusilla, "Anything for you Luv." He turned and grabbed the man. Vamping out he sucked him dry. "Bloody hell that is the worst tasting bloke I've ever had." Spike declared. "Why'd I have to eat him, Dru?"

"Because kitten came and he's now the white tiger with blue stripes. And he brought the princesses. Winter and Summer are here. They'll make us all go dusty unless we go to the Darkness. Then you can make us tigers too." Drusilla reached over to Spike and slapped him, her nails drew blood. "You were going to go away and become a puppy, just like not Daddy. And all for the princess of Summer. But now you can stay with Mummy and we can be tigers." Drusilla began growling and making claw attacks at the air with her hands.

Spike thought about what she said, "Bloody hell, I was going to end up a poofer like Angelus? I'd rather be dust!"

"No my Spike," Drusilla leaned into him. "Now we can be tigers!"

The three vampires listened to the sound of people marching past the door they were hiding behind. After a moment Drusilla said, "Time to go, we must hurry so we can fly to the darkness." Opening the door the insane vampire rushed down the corridor.

Spike and Harmony followed. At the door to the room with the zombies, Drusilla put her finger to her lips and said, "Shh! We mustn't wake the ladies who stitch and sew." Opening the door the trio snuck through the room. Just as they were almost out of the room, it happened. Drusilla and Spike had already left through the other door. One of the Cyborg demons sat up, scarring Harmony.

Harmony screamed. The zombies turned towards the sound. The cyborg looked at her. "You are a vampire. Your kind is unfit to serve our Goddess. You will be eliminated."

The thing had a black man's face and yellow demon skin. A reptilian demon claw was one arm. The other arm came from a demon that Harmony didn't recognize. Screaming, Harmony ran out the door.

Drusilla had heard Harmony scream. Grabbing Spike's hand she started to run, "My little pony didn't listen to Auntie! Now we must run or become all muddy like her." Spike ran behind Drusilla through the corridors. Until they reached the caves, Drusilla was setting an insane pace. Moving through the caves without stopping or even looking at anything. When they finally reached the cemetery where Drusilla and Harmony had started at she stopped.

A bloody tear ran down her cheek, 'Spike why did my little pony not obey Auntie? Now I can never ride her again."

"It's alright Luv," Spike said. "Once we become tigers I'll get you lots of ponies."

"Promise Spike," Drusilla asked.

"I promise princess," Spike said.

Drusilla giggled, "Oh Spike I'm not a princess, no only Winter and Summer are the princesses. But hurry we must go flying away. The man with the bird is waiting for us to take us to the darkness." As Drusilla pulled him towards a truck that said Sunnydale airport Spike understood.

"Bloody Hell," Spike said. "How'd you do that Dru? Got us an airplane have you?" Drusilla just smiled and hummed and got into the truck. Spike got in on the other side and drove to the Sunnydale airport.

Harmony didn't know where Spike and Auntie were. She was lost running from the Cyborg demon man. The zombie had eventually stopped following her but she could hear the demon coming. Rounding another corner she saw the caves that they had come in through.

As she ran forward her shoes slipped in the mud and she fell down. "Eww, gross," Harmony said as she started to get up. She felt a hand grab the back of her head and lift her up. "No please, no," Harmony begged.

The demon didn't say a word as it pushed its arm through her back. Harmony could feel it grabbing her heart and as it pulled her heart out she said, "But I was going to be a unicorn." As Harmony Kendall turned to dust, the dust settled into the muddy floor of the cave.

Five minutes after the announcement by Adam, The first of the demon cyborgs marched into the room. Xander had been busy orbing the second wave into the base. Positions had been fixed and everyone was waiting. Adam was the last one in. He took a position in front of his men. "Have you chosen to bow down to your God?"

As they marched in and formed a line, Jack shook his head. "Idiots," Jack said. "Teal'c, whenever you're ready, why don't you give him our answer."

Teal'c nodded and looked at his Jaffa. "Jaffa Kree," he called out. Jaffa began firing their staff weapons at the cyborgs. The cyborgs moved to attack. The staff weapons burned holes into the demons but failed to stop them.

"Concentrate on the legs," Jack yelled. The Jaffa tried to switch targets. They managed to hit some of the demons before they reached the combined Jaffa and SGC soldiers.

Adam was standing in the same spot he had been in at the beginning, a smile on his face. Multiple staff shots hit him only to be repulsed by his shield. As his soldiers reached the enemy the fire from the staffs died off. His men began killing the lesser creatures that defied the gods.

Buffy and Faith had been waiting. They had both swords and axes on hand. When the demons reached the lines and started attacking, they moved in. At first, each of them tried to take out one of the demons alone. Even wounded these things were tougher than the demons they had seen before.

They couldn't stand up to the slayers. After taking almost a minute to take down one on their own, Buffy yelled to Faith, "We need to tag team them," Faith nodded back. They moved to attack the demon between the two of them. This battle did not last nearly as long. Within twenty seconds the thing was dismembered.

Kennedy was not doing as well as the other two. These things were strong and fast. Still, she was the Slayer. She was slowly taking down the demons. A few had gotten lucky hits. Blood was running down her side from where one of the demons had gotten past her defenses and sliced her up. She had returned the favor by taking its head off.

The voice in her head was singing. She was feeling more and more powerful. As she killed the demons, her hand slipped a few times. And her sword bit into the back of one of the men from the Watcher's Council. As he died, Kennedy smiled. It felt so good. Kennedy wanted to pull back; part of her knew that this was wrong, but Kennedy was no longer in control.

The slayer laughed, it was free, free to kill. Free to destroy. But first, it needed to show these demons who they would bow down to. No longer would it be trapped inside these pitiful shells. Only allowed to kill the weakest of demons. Forbidden to feast on the lives of humans.

It moved towards the Adam creature. Once it had defeated this one all the other demons would bow before it. Kennedy's body slid through the fight, marching towards Adam. Faith saw her moving and called out, "Yo B, look at the Brat." Buffy turned and saw Kennedy trying to move to fight Adam.

"Hurry up, we've got to finish these things off and help her." Both the soldier from the Initiative and from the Watcher's Council were doing a good job. It was taking them five men to take down one of the demons, and it was always resulting in wounded or dead soldiers. The Jaffa and SGC teams were following their examples. From Adam's original score of Demon soldier fifteen had made it far enough to engage them in hand to hand combat. The SGC, Jaffa and Initiative men totaled almost one hundred bodies. Xander had already removed almost thirty gravely injured men to the Sunnydale base were medical personnel and Joyce had been waiting. Littering the floor of the compound where another twenty dismembered bodies.

Only five of the demon soldiers remained. Jack had to make the tough call, send Buffy and Faith to help the girl or keep them here. If they helped here there would be fewer soldiers wounded or killed. He was confident that his men could take out the demons. It was actually looking at Kennedy that caused Jack to give the order. Kennedy's eyes were filled with blood. An unholy light seemed to radiate out from her eyes.

"Winter, Summer, hurry up and finish off the demons," Jack called out. "Something's wrong with your other slayer."

Kennedy had reached Adam. Facing him she said, "Bow before me and I will let you live to serve me. We will feast on the humans and rule over all demons, you will be at my side." The slayer could sense raw power and potential in this creature. It wanted to take it and mold it to make it serve her.

Adam looked at her, "I serve only my Mother, the Goddess Hathor, bow to her and she will make you into something more." The Slayer struck out at Adam. Its fist impacted his face. "How are you avoiding my shield?" Adam asked as it started fighting back. For every attack the Slayer threw Adam countered. His systems were already analyzing the female's fighting style. He was beginning to predict what her next attack would be.

The Slayer couldn't believe it, this demon had blocked or avoided every attack except the first. It dared to think it could win against her? The Slayer drew in more of its power, pushing its shell to move faster. To strike harder.

Adam noted that the female increased its speed by ten percent. Adam knew Mother would love to have this one. Adjusting his speed Adam moved on the offensive. As he would block one blow he was launching his own strikes. Kennedy's body was being destroyed. She felt each blow breaking bones and damaging her organs. She knew she was going to die. The Slayer refused to accept that it would not be beaten.

Buffy and Faith had killed the last of the demons. The only ones left were the ones that were trying to crawl toward the soldier. Jaffa staff fire started concentrating on them, quickly dismembering them.

The two slayers ran towards Adam and Kennedy. They saw Kennedy's glowing eyes. They also saw that Adam was winning. Splitting up Buffy came in from Adam's right-hand side and Faith came from his left-hand side, bringing their weapons down towards him. Adam dropped Kennedy to the ground. It caught the weapons with its hands. Holding them by the blades, both slayers could see blood seeping from its wounded hands as they forced their blades forward. "You can not win, My Mother is the Goddess Hathor. It is inevitable that you will fall before me and bow down to her." Adam said. He angled his hand down and a spike jumped out impaling Faith's shoulder. Faith cried out as she jumped back. Swinging her ax she cleaved the spike in two. Half of the spike stayed in her shoulder. Faith's right arm hung uselessly at her side.

Buffy kicked out striking Adam in the stomach, forcing him back. Faith swung her ax, ignoring her wounded shoulder. This time, Adam was not able to catch the weapon. Faith's ax took off his right hand. "We're going to take you apart a piece at a time," Buffy taunted.

Adam didn't even pause. Looking at the wounded arm. "No matter, you can not win. Mother created me to defeat and overcome all enemies. You will fall before me." Stepping back Adam raised his left arm, It started morphing and shimmered, changing into a gun of some kind. "I analyzed your movements during the fight. Neither of you are capable of fighting against modern Tau'ri weapons."

Adam pointed his gun at Faith, The gun started to whirl preparing to fire. Xander's voice called out, "Gun' Adam looked on in amazement as the gun disappeared in a flash of blue light. Looking up he saw a man, Alexander Harris according to his database. He was holding the remains of his gun. "This is unacceptable. You can not win against a Goddess, even if you defeat me my mother will never fail."

Buffy and Faith looked at each other, Adam was standing there, one arm completely missing, the other only had a stump where his hand used to be. Nodding to one another Faith called out, "I got heads."

Buffy answered, "Fine, I'll take the chest." Faith swung her ax at Adam's neck as Buffy thrust her sword into where Adam's heart should be. Adam fell backward to the ground as his head bounced across the floor. The weight of his body pulled Buffy's sword back out of his chest.

Buffy rushed over to Faith, "You alright?"

"Five by Five, B" Faith said. "Help me pull this pig sticker out." As she reached for the skewer Jack and Xander arrived.

"Faith, don't touch that," Jack ordered her. Faith looked up at him. "Xander, get her to the hospital. We'll need a doctor ready to stop the bleeding when they remove that thing." Xander moved to help Faith Suddenly everyone noticed Adam's body was glowing. Actually pulsating.

"Is that supposed to happen?" Jack asked.

"First time for us," Buffy replied.

"Yeah I was afraid of that," Jack said. Bending to look at Adams corpse Jack could see a metal box where Adam's heart should have been, the box was cracked from where Buffy's sword had hit it. Looking at it, it looked like some kind of Goa'uld tech. "Not sure but I think that box is about to explode," Jack calmly announced. "Looks like it has a naquadah casing, too. Means if we can't stop it; it'll probably take out all of Sunnydale and part of LA."

"Oh Shit," Faith said.

The pulse started going faster, "Hey Xander," Jack said. "Think you could orb this into space?"

Xander felt his throat dry up. "Coming right up." He moved to look at the box. He really couldn't get a clear picture of it. So Xander looked at the body of Adam, Putting everything he could into his desire, Xander said, "Space." Adam's body orbed out. Xander stood for a second and then his eyes rolled back into his head as he fell to the ground.

Jack had been ready, he knew what had happened when Xander orbed to the Beliskner. Jack caught Xander before he hit the ground.

Faith and Buffy both called out, "Xander!" and moved towards the fallen man.

Jack yelled out, "Get me a medic here." He quickly ordered Buffy, and Faith to go with Xander back to the base.

Buffy looked at Jack. "Sorry not until I know there are no more demons to kill here. Faith can stay with Xander."

Looking at Buffy, Jack nodded. "Alright, let's finish clearing this place. We still need to find Hathor," Jack shook his head muttering, "I can't believe that bitch is back. How many times do I have to kill her?"

Medics brought in stretches to remove the wounded, as the soldiers continued to sweep the initiative.

Hathor had been watching the fight from the beginning on the Initiative's monitors. When she had seen her soldiers falling, she decided it was time to leave. Soon even Adam would fall. Gathering those supplies she could take with her Hathor began making her way through the base to one of the emergency exits Margaret Walsh had created. As she was going through the corridors she encountered the demon cyborg of Agent Forest.

b"You will accompany me,"/b Hathor ordered. Forest looked at its maker and nodded falling in behind her. Hathor smiled. While this place was lost to her, she had an abundance of knowledge, thanks to her Host. She knew where other installations were located. And she knew how to access them. The Tau'ri would fall before her. Accessing a small supply room Hathor opened a hidden door, Forest followed her inside and as she closed the door Hathor promised, b"You will pay O'Neill. For the destruction of my plans once again; I will make you pay!"/b

The tunnel Hathor used opened up to a large unused section of the Sunnydale sewer system. The entrance from the tunnel had been disguised. Once in the sewers, Hathor and Forest moved to the nearest sewer outlet. b"Open the way,"/b Hathor commanded.

Forest climbed the ladder and pushed the cover off. Hathor followed him. Once on the street, she looked around. According to her host's information, there would be a warehouse nearby that contained emergency supplies. A vehicle and the means to purchase more items she might need. Leading the way Hathor found the place. Once inside she looked at her guard, b"Are you capable of driving this vehicle,"/b Hathor pointed to a slightly used model Plymouth.

"Yes my Goddess," Forest replied.

b"Then do so. You will take us out of this place. You must avoid any of the Tau'ri forces. If they can not be avoided you will kill them./b Hathor commanded.

Forest paused, "My Goddess, the Tau'ri have most likely sealed all land access. I would recommend that you escape through the nearby seaport. The Tau'ri would have a much harder time following if you did so."

Hathor thought for a moment. While she did not mind killing Tau'ri, right now the important thing was to get away. b"Acceptable, you will be my new First Prime,"/b Hathor said.

Forest nodded, "Thank you, my Goddess. I will not fail you."

Forrest drove Hathor to the nearby Marina. Hathor waited while he scouted for a boat that would fulfill his Goddesses needs. Forest, before he had become a demon, had enjoyed sailing. The demon that he was now chose a thirty-five-foot yacht. Moving back to his Goddess, he escorted her to the boat. Once she was inside he proceeded to hotwire the controls and moved the boat out.

By the time the new day dawned Hathor was well out to sea.

It took almost another two hours to clear the rest of the initiative base. Jack had ordered every room to be checked. Unfortunately aside from the soldier they initially captured all other personnel on the base had been dead by the time they found them.

Jack hated running operations from the rear, however, his duty was to make sure that they succeeded. He had received the call about Zombies in one room and sent Captain Chandler's men to investigate. They had returned thirty minutes later covered in body fluids. Bing had reported that the zombies were no longer an issue.

Encountering the holding cells for the initiative's prisoners, Jack had originally thought to order the destruction of all the prisoners. Buffy stopped him. "Jack," Buffy said. "You can't do that, I saw at least one Lister demon in there."

Jack looked at her, "So? they're demons, right? Don't you kill demons?"

Lister Demons are one of the most peaceful creatures in the world," Buffy said. "Giles showed me a picture of them once when he was trying to show me that all demons aren't out to kill us." Buffy paused. "At least get Kennedy's Watcher down here. He should be able to tell us which ones are alright and which ones we need to kill."

Jack reluctantly agreed and posted two teams of Jaffa and two of the SGC teams to watch over the prisoners. After two hours Jack had to admit the truth, Hathor had escaped. Jack realized it was time to head back to the Sunnydale base and make his preliminary report.

Arriving at the base, Jack wished he could go visit Faith first, but he knew his duty. Turning to Buffy he said, "Look I have to make some reports. Would you go check on Faith and Xander? Let them know I'll stop by as soon as I can."

"Sure," A weary Buffy said. The last few days had, heck the last week had been intense and she was starting to feel like she needed a vacation. "I'll make sure Faith knows you're wishing you could be there."

Jack thanked Buffy and headed to the command center they had set up earlier. The geeks had managed to finally get communications working so it wasn't long before he was talking to the President, his staff, General Hammond and some people he didn't know. By this point, Jack honestly was too tired to care.

"Colonel O'Neill," President Hayes said. "What can you tell us about the situation?"

"Mr. President, Sir," Jack paused, he had thought about everything on the way back over to the base. "I'm sorry to report that the Goa'uld has not been found. We assaulted the base and took heavy casualties. If not for the presence of our allies it would have been much worse."

"How high are the casualty estimates," One of the President's staff asked.

"Sir, At this time I can only give you estimates," Jack said, "I haven't seen the doctor's reports on how many of the wounded will pull through. But on site, we lost almost twenty percent of our forces."

"How in the hell did you lose twenty percent of your forces?" A four-star general demanded.

"Sir, the Initiative," Jack paused. "They had created a hybrid demon soldier. Those things could take multiple staff blasts to the chest and still keep coming. If we could have engaged at range, it would have been a different story. But once that got in close they tore through my men. If not for Buffy and Faith, our losses would have been a great deal higher."

"Dear God," the same General said. "Do you mean to tell me that Hathor was experimenting on the men trapped inside?"

"Sir," Jack said. "I highly doubt it. The Goa'uld are not innovators. Most likely the Host Dr. Walsh had already been running these experiments. The things we saw in there were sickening. All of the female base personnel were killed, then turned into some kind of zombies. We did manage to capture some of the men in our initial attack; before Hathor released the Demon Cyborgs. I believe, once they recover, they will be able to tell us more . The Zats should have disrupted the effect of the Nish'ta."

"What about the local population, Col. O'Neill," General Hammond asked.

"So far nothing, Sir," Jack said. "At no time during or after the attack have any of the locals approached us. I hate to admit it but it looks like Dr. Giles was right. The only issue I see is how we're going to keep this quiet outside of Sunnydale. Because it might be months trying to figure out what happened, and we are going to have to maintain a large presence until we finish cleaning up."

President Hayes said, "Don't worry about that Col. O'Neill. I've already been talking with the Governor of California. Later this morning he'll be addressing the State and Declaring the area around Sunnydale a Federal disaster zone. The National Guard will be keeping everyone out for at least the next week."

"Mr. President," Jack said. "There is no way we'll be done in a week."

"I know Jack," Hayes said. "But by the end of the week, we'll have something in place. This just buys us time."

"Sir we're going to need people to investigate the base. We have no idea how Hathor got out. We never saw her. The leader of the Cyborgs was the one who told us Hathor was the Goa'uld in charge. We'll need personnel who can go through the base computers and records. We'll also need equipment to check for any passages we couldn't find. Although we did find out that part of the base connect to a vast cave system that runs around and through Sunnydale. So it is possible Hathor left that way."

"Mr. President," Another aide said. "I recommend we have the FBI put out a BOLO for Walsh. Accused of murder and kidnapping. We should make sure we have as many eyes looking for her as possible."

"Do it," Hayes said. "Alright, I want a military investigation team dispatched as soon as possible. Find whoever is the best and get them there. Hell, grab from the FBI too. I want our best people there by tomorrow morning. Colonel O'Neill, for at least the next few days I'm keeping you where you are. After that, we'll see about getting someone else to take over. I want a more detailed report in the next twenty-four hours." Hayes paused, "And Colonel? Get some rest. You look like hell."

Jack snorted, "Yes, Sir, I'll do that after I check on the wounded."

"Colonel O'Neill," General Hammond said, "I have additional help on its way to you as we speak. They should be arriving at the base in the next hour."

"Yes Sir," Jack said. "I'm glad you're not waiting on Xander. It might have been a while, between getting everyone here, and the bomb he had to send into space, I think he'll be out of it for at least a day."

"I've already arranged a flight, Colonel," Hammond said. "They should be arriving within the hour. Go check on your men and get some rest, Colonel."

The conference ended and Jack left to go find Faith and Dr. Fraiser.

The Sunnydale base had not been designed with a hospital in mind. Dr. Fraiser had taken almost her entire staff to Sunnydale. Currently, they had set up cots in the motor pool. Janet thought it looked like a picture from one of the old MASH units.

When Jack walked in he looked around and spotted Janet. Heading to her he said, "Dr. Fraiser, How many are we going to lose?"

Janet could tell Jack was expecting bad news. She smiled at him, "Barring unforeseen complications, only one."

Jack looked astonished, "How is that possible? And who are we going to lose?"

"You can thank Joyce for that," Janet said. "She was stabilizing the worst cases as they came in. It gave us the time to work on everyone and they should all pull through. The problem case is the young girl Kennedy. For some reason, Joyce's abilities don't work on her."

Jack looked stricken, the young girl who he hadn't wanted to take was dying. "Is there anything we can do? Hell, do they know why Joyce can't heal her?"

"Sir," Janet began. "I honestly don't know how she's still alive. She has massive internal damage. Almost every rib in her chest was either fractured or broken. By any normal medical standards, she should have died hours ago." Janet paused. "As it stands I'm trying to make her as comfortable as possible. But even with the amazing stamina she has, I don't think she'll make it through the day."

Jack nodded, he felt numb. Another kid was going to die, and he couldn't do anything about it. "Where is she?" Jack asked.

"I'll take you to her," Janet said.

Walking to the back Jack found out Kennedy was in a bed next to Faith. On Faith's other side was Xander. Both of them were sleeping. Sitting next to Kennedy was her watcher. Jack thought for a minute to recall the man's name. "Mr. Anderson," Jack began. "I'm sorry."

John looked up at him, he saw the sorrow in Jack's eyes. "I started training Kennedy when she was eight years old. She was always a bit of a brat. She always had to try and prove herself. She had to be the best at everything. When she found out Slayers Faith and Buffy were still alive she was determined to prove she was better than them." John sighed. "I was afraid something like this would happen. Kennedy never listened to anyone when she got like this. She was going to prove she was better that two slayers who had survived years of fighting some of the greatest evils in modern times."

John stood up and looked at Jack, "I can tell you feel responsible. You're not, Kennedy was a slayer, it was her Destiny to fight the Forces of Darkness. She knew she might be called on to lay down her life to protect humanity." John paused again, "You did not kill her, a demon did. And at least I will be able to spend her last hours with her. Most slayers are left on the ground by their killers, or their bodies are taken as trophies. If anyone is to blame I suppose you'd have to blame destiny or the Power that Be."

Jack asked, "How would the Powers that Be, be responsible?"

"Well from what we know they somehow choose who the slayers will be," John answered.

Jack just nodded, right now he didn't trust what would come out of his mouth. Inside he looked at Kennedy, i"I promise Kennedy when we finally kill them. We'll let them know you're one of the victims we are getting vengeance for./i

"No Colonel O'Neill," John continued. "This is not your fault. And it's not your responsibility. But if you want to sit with us till the end I wouldn't object."

"I wish I could," Jack said. "But I still have men out there. We're cleaning up the mess and it will take a while. But for now, I can stay." Jack sat down, "So tell me some more about Kennedy," he said.

John talked about Kennedy, what she was like. Her good points and her bad points. It had been almost an hour and the sun was starting to rise. As the morning light streamed through the windows, Kennedy shuddered, she took one last rattling breath, then she stopped.

Dr. Fraiser had told one of the nurses to watch for any changes. The nurse called her over, Janet checked Kennedy's vital signs. Turning to her nurse she said, "Put the time of death at Six oh three am, local time." Janet pulled a sheet over Kennedy's body. "I'm sorry for your loss." She said to John.

John nodded, "Thank you, when can I get her remains? I would like to make sure they are cremated as soon as possible."

Janet looked surprised at that, "We already know the cause of death so by this afternoon we could release her body."

John nodded again, "Thank you," turning to Jack, John said. "If I could impose on you Col. O'Neill, would there be somewhere I could sleep until Kennedy is ready?"

Jack nodded, "Let me get someone to take you to one of the rooms on base. And John, I'm so sorry." John nodded and left for the front to wait for his guide.

Janet looked at Jack, "Are you going to be alright, Colonel?"

"Eventually," Jack said. "Eventually, we'll get the ones responsible and that will be as alright as I can hope for." While they were talking two orderlies had come in and removed Kennedy's body.

Janet looked at Jack, "You're staying here, Col. O'Neill. I'll have another cot brought in. But I want you to get at least six hours of downtime. If an emergency comes up I'll have someone wake you."

Jack decided not to argue. Once a new cot was in place he lay down next to Faith, closed his eyes and prayed that he wouldn't dream.

In Peru, a young potential had been sleeping. Her watcher was in the other room. She had been in training since the age of two. She jerked awake as the Slayer entered her. Her eyes glowing red, she got up from her bed.

Moving swiftly to the other room she looked down at the man who was her watcher. She felt nothing; he had made sure that there wasn't even a chance for emotional bonds to form. He was a perfect watcher. Reaching down the thirteen year old girl snapped his neck.

She giggled as she decided to go back to sleep. Soon enough she could start doing other things. But today she would sleep and relax. The slayer breathed in a deep breath, the watcher's home was in a remote area of the Peruvian jungle. He had felt it was best to prevent any distractions. Now it would be perfect for her needs. 


	23. Chapter 23

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.  
And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.  
_

Chapter 23 _

Jack wasn't sure how long he had been asleep; judging by the Sun it was close to mid-day. He was woken up by Sam, gently shaking his shoulder. "Col. O'Neill," Sam shook him again. "Sorry Jack, but we need you to get up."

Jack opened his eyes. "Carter," he said, trying to get him mind in gear. "I am up. What's going on?"

Next to him Faith opened her eyes, "Man you guys are loud," she grumbled as she sat up. Stretching she looked over at Xander. "Yo Boytoy, time to get moving." She kicked his cot to emphasize her point.

Norgle blargh zoom, Xander seemed to say. Faith reached over and shook him again. Xander peeled open one eye, "What?"

"Come on, Boytoy," Faith said, "Time to get up and get moving."

"Are you trying to be evil?" Xander asked as he sat up. "What time is it?"

Jack laughed, "Good question. Carter?"

"It's almost thirteen hundred hours, Sir," Sam said. "I would have let you sleep more but we have a recommendation that you're going to have to approve of as the Base Commander."

"All right, hit me," Jack said.

"Sir, Master Bra'tac was asking about setting up funeral pyres for the four fallen Jaffa. Mr. Anderson was going to see about cremating Kennedy's remains as well. I put Daniel in charge of making sure everything ran smoothly. And Rupert happened to bring Captain Chandler over to discuss the disposition of his men's remains. Daniel has recommended that based on a common element, we hold a service today. All of them practice cremation. And from what Rupert has said, anyone who knows about the interdimensional invaders, they prefer to be cremated." Sam wasn't going to add that Rupert also said this was so that others couldn't use the corpse in any magic rituals.

"So Danny wants to let them cremate their people," Jack asked. "I'm not seeing an issue with that."

"No Sir," Sam said. "Danny wants us to cremate all of our people who died in the assault. Not only to protect them. But also as a joint service. Or as Master Bra'tac said, 'Let the Fallen warriors be honored as one.' And everyone else agreed. Since many of the men were under your command you would have to approve this."

"How many did we lose?" Jack asked.

"Ten total from the SGC teams," Sam said. "Captain Finn lost four of his twenty men. And from the Sunnydale base, we lost three of the twenty-eight men involved. Four Jaffa and two of the British were also lost. When we add in Ms. DeSilva it would be twenty-four people."

"It sucks to be right," Jack said. When Sam looked at him he said, "When I was giving my report to the President I said I thought it was around twenty percent of my men were dead, before I knew how many of the wounded would pull through."

Sam shook her head in agreement, "Sir, I'd like to recommend that we follow Daniel's suggestion. We really would not be allowed to let any of the families of the fallen examine their bodies. This way we can return the ashes and based on the cover story that has been published it will make sense."

"What's the cover story, Carter?" Jack asked.

"A pharmaceutical research center had an accident. It has contaminated most of Sunnydale. We will eventual be revealing that the accident was actually a planned event by Margaret Walsh. She has several papers that talk about how man is destroying the environment and that the world would be better off without any humans." Sam paused, "They're still working out the details."

"Give me whatever I need to sign," Jack said. "Anything else I need to know?"

"Yes, Sir," Sam said. "We'll be receiving our first groups in about an hour or two. The President pulled from several of the Military Investigation groups to come and comb through the remains of the Initiative's base. Their flight will also be bringing in a group from the FBI and the Jeffersonian. All of the groups are signing NDAs and being given full disclosure of the Stargate and Initiative programs. The President authorized his backup plane,to be used to bring them in."

Faith who had been listening asked, "Whoa, how many planes does he have?"

Jack smiled, "All the ones in the Air Force, but what Carter means is the backups to Air Force One. That's the big one that the President always flies in. I can just imagine the poor sap who is having to brief everyone."

"Must be nice," Faith said. Turning to Xander, "You need to take me home. I really want to get cleaned up." Xander nodded and got up.

"If it's alright with you, Faith," Xander said. "I still feel tired from last night. Can we bum a ride to the house?"

"Hey Dad," Faith smirked. "Can we borrow the car? We'll be careful, I promise."

Jack groaned, "Carter, get them a ride home, tell whoever takes them to wait for them."

"Yes, Sir," Sam said. Looking at Faith, "You might want to grab your Mom and Sister-I think they are still around-and have everyone go at the same time. Head over to the administration building and I'll have someone ready to take you home." Faith nodded. Grabbing Xander's hand she went to look for the others.

The day had started completely normal. As usual, Gibbs team had been working a case. This one involved missing supplies from one of the Navy's bases. Almost thirty thousand dollars worth of supplies had gone missing. At around ten am things changed. Gibbs was called into the Director's office. He came out twenty minutes later.

"Todd, DiNozzo, McGee," Gibbs called all of them over to his desk, "Take all the files you're working on, pass them to Johnson's team." The team started protesting losing their case. "QUIET," Gibbs yelled. "By direct order of the President, we're being assigned to a new case. Go home, pack enough for at least two weeks, more than likely for a month, meet back here in two hours. We'll be heading to Andrews together."

"Boss," Tim said. "Does this have something to do with the disaster in California?"

"You'll find out when we are wheels up, McGee. We'll get the full briefing in the air." Looking at his team, "Move it, people, the clock is ticking!" Gibbs left to go find Ducky and Abby.

"Ducky," Gibbs called out. "I need you to drop whatever you're working on."

"But why, Jethro?" Ducky Mallard asked.

"The entire team has been assigned a new case. I requested that we could bring you and Abby with us. I need you to go home and get packed. Tom said he'd make sure someone checks up on your mother. We may be gone at least a month," Gibbs supplied.

"Well if you truly think it's important, Jethro," Ducky said. "I shall go and pack, I'll make sure to let Mother know someone will be by to visit her."

Gibbs headed to Abby's lab, "Abbs," he called out.

"Gibbs," Abby responded, "Why are you here? I haven't been working on anything for you. And no Caf-Pow? What's going on, Gibbs?"

"Abby," Gibbs began. "I need you to go home and get packed. The entire team has been given a new assignment. You're coming with us, pack for at least a month. Be back here in two hours, we'll be heading to Andrews together."

"But Gibbs," Abby protested. "What should I pack, where are we going? And I can't do anything without my equipment. How can you do this to me?"

"Abby," Gibbs grabbed her shoulders. "Don't worry about it. I've already been told the lab you'll be using will have anything and everything you need. And if it's not there they will bring it in. So go home, get packed, and make sure you bring something for warmer weather. It's not as cold where we're going."  
_

Two hours later Gibbs was waiting for everyone. DiNozzo showed up first. "DiNozzo, what the Hell is all that?" Gibbs asked, pointing to the pile of luggage Tony had brought.

"Boss," Tony said. "You said we'd be gone a month. I just grabbed the essentials."

"Pare it down," Gibbs growled. "Two bags, the rest can be sent later."

"Boss," Tony protested. "I need everything here!"

"Two bags, DiNozzo," Gibbs stated. Tony started looking over his bags, trying to figure out exactly what he could wait for.

Caitlin Todd laughed as she came up, she had heard Gibbs ripping Tony. "What's the matter Tony?" she asked. "I thought it was supposed to be just women who couldn't travel light?" Caitlin had her own bags with her. Two bags, and a travel case.

"Hardy har har," Tony said. "I'll have you know it takes a lot of work to maintain my good looks and style. The boss doesn't know what he's doing depriving people of seeing all this," Tony gestured to himself, "in its full glory."

"Oh I'm sure," Caitlin said.

Tim and Abby were coming in together. Tony seeing Tim called out, "Probie, how many bags are you bringing?"

"Why, Tony?" Tim asked in a wary voice.

"He wants to try to pawn off his luggage on you, McGee," Gibbs said. He slapped Tony upside the head, "Two bags, the rest will be shipped."

"Ow," Tony said, "Yeah, boss, I got it, two bags."

"Who else is coming Boss?" Tim asked.

"Just waiting on Ducky," Gibbs said.

"I do apologize, Jethro," Ducky said as he came in the room. "Mother was worried so it took me a little longer than planned for. But I am here now and ready to go."

"All right, the Director has arranged for two vans to take us to Andrews. Let's move it, people." Gibbs led the group out.  
_

Seeley Booth's day was going great. He was caught up on his case load, and after their last arrest, he did not have anything outstanding. In fact, if things went well he might even be able to leave early this week.

Everything was great right until Sweets came into his office. "Booth, I just got a call from the Director, he said to grab you and head up to his office."

"Why would he call you?" Booth asked. "I'm senior and you're not a field agent."

"I don't know but come on," Sweets said with a smile.

Together the two men went to the meeting. Both were told that the President had ordered a joint military and civilian task for to discover what caused the Disaster in California. The President had already called the directors of the Jeffersonian and NCIS they would all be sending people. Their jobs would be to assist the Jeffersonian team and to make sure they didn't screw something up. Both men were sent home to pack. They needed to be at Andrews joint base in four hours.  
_

At the Jeffersonian, Dr. Brennan's team had been going over some of the backlogs of work they had. While their work with the FBI was very rewarding it always interrupted their other projects.

Dr. Bancroft came in and asked Dr. Brennan to assemble her team. Once everyone was present he said, "Earlier this morning you may have heard the announcement from the Governor of California. We received a call from the office of the President. The Jeffersonian has been asked to provide assistance in determining what happened." This caused a general murmur to go through the listening scientists. "The board agreed to give whatever assistance we could."

"I take it we will be receiving bodies from Sunnydale soon then," Bones asked.

"No Dr. Brennan," Dr. Bancroft said. "You and your entire team are going to be flying to California today. The president has assembled a large task force. You leave from Andrews joint base in four hours."

"Dr. Bancroft," Bones began. "We need our equipment and tools. Sending us to California would be a waste of time without them. There is no way we could have everything packed and ready to go in four hours."

"We've been assured that everything and anything you may need will be provided on site. And if they don't have it, they will get it for you," Dr. Bancroft paused. "I don't think I need to stress how important this is. The details have not been released yet, but whatever happened yesterday took down satellites and land communication, and according to the news we have all travel into the affected area is being blocked by National Guard units. If we do our normal outstanding work, the Jeffersonian will be assured of funding for the next decade at least. Now please, I would like for all of you to immediately go home and pack. We've been told that you should anticipate at least being gone for a month. You'll need to be at Andrews in four hours. The gate guards will be given a list of everyone who is going. So just give them your name and they will get you on the right plane."

"What about our work with the FBI?" Bones asked.

"I understand that the FBI will be sending people as well," replied Dr. Bancroft. "Agents Booth and Sweets will be part of that group." Bones nodded.

"Very well then," Bones turned to her team. "Make sure everything is shut down before you leave." The team nodded. Angela approached her.

"Tempi," she said. "I'm going to miss you."

"Why?" Bones asked.

"You'll be gone at least a month," Angela explained.

"I fail to understand your point, Angela," Bones said. "After all, you'll be with us."

"What," Angela exclaimed. "But I'm not a scientist."

"True, but you are an integral part of our team," Bones said. "And since Dr. Bancroft stated that the entire team would be coming that includes you as well. I have found that your insight and abilities have helped a great deal in the past. I will see you at Andrews." Bones left Angela standing there as she went to finish her own work before going to pack.

"She's right you know," Hodgins said. "You are just as much a part of this team as anyone else. So, of course, you're coming with us."

"OK, fine I get it," Angela said. Looking at Hodgins she asked, "Why are you so excited to go? You were talking about a massive cover-up earlier when they made the announcement about the disaster area."

"And I will be proved right about that," Hodgins said. "Sunnydale is an anomaly, it has been for decades. Weird things always said about it. But someone, the Illuminati would be my guess, has been keeping a lid on it. Something must have happened to blow the cover off, and I get to go there and find out what." Hodgins looked at Angela, "How could I not be excited about that?"  
_

It was a large and diverse group of people that were boarding one of the planes used for Air Force One. Everyone sat down. The interior of the plane was designed for a briefing. An Air Force Major was standing at the front. "If I could have your attention please," he began. "My name is Major Paul Davis, in front of you are a group of documents. These are NonDisclosure Agreements. Each of you will have to sign them before we can take off. Once we are in the air I will begin briefing you about what we know. If you choose not to sign you will be escorted off the plane."

Once everyone including Jack Hodgins had signed the documents, the door was closed and they could feel the plane starting to move. Major Davis began speaking. "You are about to be briefed about two top-secret projects. The information you receive will forever alter your understanding of our world and universe. The first briefing covers a US Army project titled the Initiative." Davis then began explaining HSTs and the overall goals of the Initiative. This caused much skepticism among the scientists. When he also explained that it was recently learned that Sunnydale was located over an inter-dimensional breach, many of the scientists found that very interesting. The revelation of the Stargate program was just as shocking, finding out that Earth was at war, that the US had been making allies with aliens. And it was unbelievable that even now the US and Great Britain were in talks with a group called the Furling Descendants that might result in an incredible windfall of knowledge.

Hodgins turned to Zack, "You realize what this means?"

"That we have contacted aliens, and vampires and demons are real," Zack said.

"No. Dr. Daniel Jackson was right," Hodgins said. "He published a book years ago that said the pyramids had been built by aliens. Almost everyone discounted his theories, I wonder if he knows the truth?"

Major Davis had allowed time between the briefings to help the people understand the background. People had been grabbing food and discussing things. After watching he decided to move to the next part of the briefing.

"Alright people, if I could have your attention please," Major Davis began. "I'm going to present the background on what happened in Sunnydale recently. We were informed yesterday that the Initiative base had been compromised by the Goa'uld. At this time we still don't know how it happened. The Goa'uld who was later learned to be called Hathor has been encountered by the SGC. It was thought it had been killed during one of SG-1's missions. At this time we are waiting for confirmation that it is the same Goa'uld.

"We were informed that a person code-named Slayer had been captured by the initiative, and was being held because of their unusual physical abilities. The Furlings demanded her release prior to entering into talks with us. The base commander was ordered to release Slayer. According to Slayer's first-hand account, the base commander Margaret Walsh had her brought to a room containing, from Slayer's description, Goa'uld. The purpose was to subject Slayer to implantation in order to cover up the crimes Dr. Walsh had committed. A struggle ensued and Dr. Walsh was taken as a host. Slayer managed to escape with the aid of a high ranking member of the Initiative, who had not been aware of what was taking place.

"When Slayer made contact with the Furling Descendants, they informed us of what had happened. The President, along with the British, began planning an attack to retake the base. When it was discovered that the base was shielded by Goa'uld technology, Teal'c, a member of SG-1, went to ask assistance from his people, the Free Jaffa of Chulak.

"The Furling Descendants were also assisting us, with transporting men, equipment, and fighting with our forces. They were the ones who informed us that due to the presence of the inter-dimensional rift no one would think anything unusual was happening when we assaulted the base. Reports from our onsite commander have verified this is true. The assault that took place comprised the combined forces of the US and British military, the Free Jaffa and the Furling Descendants. They succeeded in retaking the base, suffering a loss of seventeen percent of their forces. Inside the Initiative, they encountered," Major Davis paused. "Almost everyone in the base had been effectively killed and altered. Our team managed to bring out fifteen men who had been captured, every other person in the base was killed.

"Hathor had ordered them killed and then used their bodies to create creatures that were part human, demon and cybernetic. They were only able to create twenty-one of them before the assault. These twenty-one creatures caused all the fatalities and accompanying casualties. All of the wounded but one survived, thanks to the aid of the Furling Descendants.

"After evacuating the surviving personnel the base was searched but Dr. Walsh was not found. It is assumed at this time that she escaped. This is why you're here. We need to take apart every system in the base, computers, paper files, and any recording, all of it has to be gone through. In addition, the bodies of the men and women killed by Walsh will need to be examined to try and understand what was done. We need you to figure out where Walsh would go. The Goa'uld should not be familiar with Earth. So it will be basing its actions off of its host's knowledge.

"We have investigation teams from the FBI and NCIS to go through any leads that we can come up with. The Jeffersonian team will be in charge of physical forensics. Dr. Temperance Brennan will be in charge of the Forensics group. Agent Jethro Gibbs will be in charge of following the physical evidence and leads. Agent Gibbs," Davis called Gibbs once he spotted him, "I understand you brought some of your own forensics people. They will need to be placed with the people from the Jeffersonian. While here they will report to Dr. Brennan. Agent Booth, you will be reporting to Agent Gibbs. Agent Gibbs, If I might make a recommendation, you might want to meet with Dr. Brennan in the staff room before we land. You can introduce your people who will be working under her and Agent Booth will be able to assist you."

"Ladies and Gentleman, finding out what happened is important, but stopping it from happening again is critical. Please remember that in the upcoming days. If you have any questions I will be in the upper deck, please feel free to approach me."

Gibbs called out, "Ducky, Abby, McGee come with me." He led the three to the conference room.

Bones looked at Booth, "I wasn't expecting this."

"Yeah Bones," Booth said. "None of us were. Let's go talk to them. Sweets, come on."

Bones nodded, "Hodgins, I want you there as well."

In the conference room, the unease was palpable. Gibbs didn't like losing Ducky and Abby. Booth wasn't sure that having Bones in charge was the best thing based on her personality. All that Bones cared about was how best to solve the problem.

"Dr. Brennan," Gibbs began. "This is Dr. Donald Mallard, Abby Sciuto, and Timothy McGee. Dr. Mallard and Abby will be working with your team. McGee will be if you need him."

"I recognize Dr. Mallard," Bones said. "You wrote several of the standard forensic books currently in use, and I've read several of your papers. It will be good to work with you."

"Well thank you, my dear," Ducky said. "I must say I am familiar with your work as well. I always find your papers enlightening."

"Wait, Dr. Brennan, Temperance Brennan," Tim asked.

"Yes," Bones said. "How can I assist you, Agent McGee?"

"We've actually met," Tim said. "It was a party thrown by, well, our publisher, I just recognized you. Since we both work in crime suspense we were at the same party. I wrote Deep Six." Tim explained.

"I see," Bones said. "I'm not sure how pertinent that is to this situation, though."

"Bones," Booth said. "He was just making a connection, pointing it out, you know."

"But it's not needed," Bones said. "I know Dr. Mallard is a highly skilled medical examiner, I assume anyone he works with is the same."

"It's the human factor, Dr. Brennan," Sweets supplied. "It helps to ease the fear of the unknown by pointing out the commonalities." Bones nodded.

"Alright," Gibbs said. "I can see, Dr. Brennan, that we will have our work cut out for us."

"Is she like a robot?" Abby asked.

"Dr. Brennan is highly logical," Sweets said. "As such, many times, she doesn't see the purpose of social niceties. She understands them but often finds they get in the way so she avoids them."

"You get used to it," Booth said. "And Bones is the best at what she does."

"I'm sorry. Bones?" Ducky asked.

"It's a nickname that Booth gave me," Bones supplied. "Since it indicated a greater level of acceptance I have found I enjoy it. You may call me Bones as well if you like, Dr. Mallard."

"And you must call me Ducky, my dear." Dr. Mallard said.

"Very well, Ducky," Bones said. "Ms. Sciuto, what is your specialty?"

"Um, well, I have a Doctorate in Chemistry and Criminal Forensics," Abby replied. "Gibbs, do I have to work with people? It didn't go well last time."

"What happened last time?" Booth asked.

"My assistant, that Gibbs made me take," Abby said pointing a finger at Gibbs. "He tried to frame Tony for murder."

"So you are worried that someone on my team will turn out to be a criminal?" Bones asked.

"No, it's just I don't work well with people," Abby said.

"Yeah," Booth said. "But they're not normal people, all the squints are super geeks."

Abby looked upset at the name calling. "Hey he's sort of right," Hodgins said. "None of us are normal, except Angela but she's an artist so she might not count. But wait till you meet Zack and the others. Heck if you think you're up for the challenge you can even try for king of the lab."

"King of the lab?" Abby asked.

"Zack and I compete for who is the best at finding the clues and missing information," Hodgins explained. "Whoever wins is King of the lab."

Abby smiled, "Yes, but how will you boys feel at serving a queen?"

"Oh it's on," Hodgins replied.

With that, the tension had dispersed and Gibbs, Brennan and Booth quickly worked out how they would coordinate everything.

By the time the plane landed everyone was ready to get started. Hodgins had remarked on how a small city like Sunnydale had an airport that could accommodate a plane this size, pointing out it was yet another factor in the mystery that was Sunnydale.

Once everyone was on the ground they were loaded onto army trucks and driven to the Sunnydale base. Driving up, everyone could see that a large group of people had assembled in front of a long line of wrapped bodies, they were set up like funeral pyres.

As everyone got out of the truck they were told that there was a service about to start for the fallen from the previous night. Everyone found a place to watch and listen.

A small podium had been assembled. Jack had relied on Danny to plan this thing. He knew as the overall commander he would need to address everyone, Giles would speak for the group from the watchers and Master Bra'tac for the Jaffa.

Giles spoke first, "I speak tonight for those of us who have long fought the enemies of humanity. The demons that prey upon humanity. They have always lived in the shadows. And our war has endured for thousands of years. These are the most recent soldiers to lay down their lives to defend us all. And the most recent Slayer joins them. Kennedy was called as a slayer less than a week ago. Yet she did not shirk her calling. She sought to use her gifts to defeat a great evil. And as countless Slayers have in the past she lay down her life. While her sister Slayers could not save her they did avenge her. The Abomination created by the initiative was destroyed. Kennedy lived to see the hope of a new day. For those of us who have lived in the world of shadows, the dawn holds special meaning. It means we have survived another night. We have beaten our adversaries back once more. Kennedy lived to feel the light of dawn on her face one last time, then she lay her burden down. Today we send her off that she may never have to endure another night. She is accompanied by the brave men who fought and died with her. All of them entered the fight knowing it might be their last, yet not one man among them broke when the enemy was upon them. May all of us live up to their example. And as we face the night may we live to see the dawning of the new day."

Master Bra'tac stood up to speak next, "My fellow Jaffa, Warriors of the Tau'ri and our new allies the Furlings. When we were told of the attack on your world by the Goa'uld, my warriors cried out to come to the assistance of our friends the Tau'ri. Long have we suffered under the heel of the False Gods. The coming of the Tau'ri has allowed us to reach for our freedom. We had to come to assist our brothers. When we arrived we were amazed; beings of legend walked with the Tau'ri. The Furlings, long thought extinguished by the Goa'uld, would fight with us. Each of my Jaffa's hearts burned with pride, for we knew the False God would fall. We fought a battle worthy of Legends, with the Furlings and the Tau'ri at our sides we defeated a mighty force of Orak Ha'taaka. Our brother warriors have gone on. But our people will know of this fight. I pledge to the Tau'ri and the Furlings all Free Jaffa will rejoice at the great victory we achieved together. And may this battle be the first of many we shall fight together as allies, who shall overthrow all those who seek to oppress our peoples."

"Today as the sun sets we are gathered together," Jack began. "Before us are our brothers and sister. They fought and bled for us, they lay down their lives to preserve the freedom we have. Each of them choose to be with us last night. Even knowing what we might face, creatures from legends, creatures of unimaginable evil. Every one of our fallen choose to fight. They gave up their lives to help preserve our world. Tonight as the sun sets we will send their mortal remains to the next world. They have gone on ahead, these shells they have left behind will never be used by our enemies, but they will live on in our memories." Taps began playing as the funeral prior was lit.

Everyone stayed as the bodies burned. It was obvious that some kind of accelerant was used on them. Bones and Ducky were talking as they watched the fires. "I found it strangely moving," Bones said. "The service seemed to incorporate several distinct cultures. Yet it was blending together in a beautiful fashion." Bones could tell she was a little more emotional than what she would normally be.

"Yes," Ducky agreed. "I too found it to be a very moving service. Although it did seem to follow a cultural pattern of promise for the future. I believe working with so many new and interesting people in the coming days shall be quite invigorating."

Bones agreed as she watched everyone around her. Any air of sadness seemed to be lifting as the fires burned. Before the sun had finished setting the fires had died out and the remains had been gathered. Each was placed in a metal cylinder that had the person's name etched into it. Bones wondered how they could have assembled those so quickly, but didn't think now was the time to try and find out.  
_

As the fires burned Master Bra'tac was talking with Buffy, Faith, and Xander. They had explained more about what the Slayer was and their history of fighting demons. Their stories were the tales of legends. Bra'tac knew he would have to approach his people, they would fight alongside these legends.

As the night approached there was a slight rush to get everyone housed and to explain the rules of Sunnydale to them. Most of the people really didn't believe what they were hearing yet. But Jack hoped that once they got into the Initiative and saw what was still down there they would accept the reality of the situation.

For the Trio, the day had been long. Once they had seen the battle going on, they continued watching until it got too boring for them. None of the three had very long attention spans. Instead, they began to plot how to get whatever was under Lowell house.

"Warren," Jono said. "They're probably going to post guards at the top. There's no way we can sneak past them."

"Well come up with an idea," Warren ordered. "Otherwise, why are you here?"

"What about the caves?" Andrew asked. "We already have mapped a lot of the caves under Sunnydale. I'll bet the temple they're in connects to one of those. We just need to check and cross reference our maps to find a way in."

Good idea number one," Warren said. "Make it so." Andrew preened under the praise. It took him almost two hours but he was able to find a way to the caves near where Lowell house was.

When Warren started talking about how they needed to gear up and go Jono had had enough, "Look, Warren," Jono said. "There is no way I'm going into those caves. It's almost daylight that means any vampires will be stuck down there. And whatever is under Lowell house isn't worth dying for."

"Coward," Andrew said. "We will be protected by our very nobility. Any Vampire who we come across will fall before us."

'Any Vampire we come across will eat us," Jono corrected. "This isn't a game Andrew!"

"Jono's right," Warren said. "That's why when you two are down in the caves, I'm sending you some special help."

"Wait, the two of us?" Jono asked. "Where are you going to be?"

"I'll be directing the mission from our control center," Warren said. Andrew looked on, of course, Warren would be leading them, Jonathan was such an idiot.

"You know what, Warren," Jono said. "If you think I'm going down there while you stay up here you're an idiot."

Warren stood up, "You better watch what you say, Jonathan," He said as he tried to intimidate the smaller man.

"Or you'll what?" Jono asked. "Beat me up like the Jocks used to do? Or maybe you'll take some of my collectibles. Try it, Warren," Jono said as he pulled out his magic bone. "You might be good at some things but I'm better at magic than you are."

Jonathan was carefully getting up, "Andrew, put my stuff back in my bag,' he ordered. When Andrew started to protest he said, "Do it or I'm lighting your books on fire," He pointed his bone at Andrew's books.

"Once you go down the path of the dark side forever will it dominate you," Andrew said as he looked at Jono. "You are betraying us?"

"No, I'm not," Jono said. "I'm leaving here. I know that what he has planned is a death sentence. I made it through Sunnydale High, I'm not dying in some dark cave with you, for Warren. Now take my stuff downstairs, and remember, Andrew, I know where you keep your collectibles you try anything and I will destroy them all."

Andrew gasped, "You, you Anakin Skywalker!"

"Jonathan you leave and you're never welcome back here," Warren said.

"Yeah, you know what Warren?" Jono said, "Suddenly I'm OK with that." As Jono left he felt remarkably free. As if a great weight had lifted off of his shoulders. True he might not have any friends right now but he was pretty sure Warren and Andrew would soon be dead from Warren's stupidity.

After Jono left Andrew turned to Warren, "What are we going to do now?"

Warren was silent for a minute. He had been weighing his options. He knew whatever was down there had to be important. The power it would give him would be enough to make everyone bow down to him. "Have no fear, my young apprentice," He said. "Together we will brave the caverns and come out again victorious, the traitor left before he could hear my plan." Walking over to a storage closet he unlocked it and opened it revealing a female figure.

"Master, what is it?" Andrew asked.

"I built this as a prototype," Warren said. There was no way he was explaining his sexbot to Andrew. "She will guard us on our journey. She can fight any of the creatures we encounter in the caverns." Grabbing a box of untested prototypes from a shelf. "Arm yourself, soon we will begin our epic journey." Warren grabbed another box that had things he had tested. A heat ray, and light grenades that would dust any vampire. He only had three of them but if he had to use them he could always make sure he left Andrew behind.

"Master, shouldn't we rest before starting," Andrew asked still in character.

"Yes, good thought," Warren said, "We shall retire to the inn for now."

"But Warren," Andrew whined. "Jonathan left the group what if he doesn't let us use his basement."

Warren hadn't thought that far ahead, "Then we shall have to find lodgings elsewhere. But let us see if our erstwhile companion is prepared to repent. As nobles, we must give him the chance to make amends."

Heading over to Jonathan's house, Warren actually believed Jono would come crawling back, begging for forgiveness. When they knocked on the basement door, Jono opened it dressed in a bathrobe and boxers. "What do you want?" He said.

"We've come to give you the chance to repent and beg forgiveness," Andrew declared.

Jono looked at him, then at Warren. Slowly he said, "Go...Away...I Never Want to see you again." Then he shut the door in their face.

As Andrew started to get upset Warren said, "Fear not. Once we come into our rightful places, the Traitor shall pay." Andrew quieted down. "Now my young apprentice how much gold do you have with you? We shall need to rent a room from another Inn for the day."

Andrew complained but admitted he had cash since his parents still gave him a generous allowance. Together Warren and Andrew went to the Sunnydale Arms and got a room together. Warren was not happy with the look the desk guy gave him. He kept insinuating that Warren and Andrew were gay, and Andrew didn't help by telling him that he and his boon companion were in need of a room for the day.

Once the duo had rested they headed out with April the sexbot to enter the caves near the sea cliffs. Warren had checked Andrews maps and agreed it was probably the fastest route. They didn't get started until late afternoon, but Warren thought that might be a bonus; by the time they were leaving all of the Vampires would have already left for the night.

Going through the caves without April the sexbot would have killed them both. They stumbled upon solitary vampires twice, and while April distracted them Warren used his heat ray to kill them. They also came across something that looked like a Shar Pei but it wasn't violent to them so they were happy to leave it alone.

Clem watched the group leave and wondered what the caves were coming to, "I really have to find a better place to live," he said to himself.

By the time the duo reached the Initiative's base the sun had set. Which was very lucky for them, because Colonel O'Neill had left orders that once the sun went down the two teams on watch were to seal themselves in the control room. They were not ready to take on demons on their own yet. Most of the day people had been moving corpses into a large freezer that the Initiative had on hand for that very purpose.

So now Warren and Andrew accompanied by April the Sexbot were free to explore the hidden lair of the Initiative. Going through the various rooms Warren was getting pissed. They weren't finding anything. It seemed that whoever had attacked the base had already stripped most of the good stuff away.

"I think we need to check for hidden rooms," Andrew said. "Just like most dungeons the easy to find stuff is already gone. But the hidden rooms will have great treasure waiting for us."

Warren agreed and they split up trying to find any hidden rooms. Warren found one first. Opening the door, which was not hidden just hard to see in the dark, he unknowingly entered one of the cloning labs. This lab had been running a different test phase for Dr. Angleman. Angleman had managed to confirm that his process was degrading the genetic memory of batch fourteen. So he had pursued that line of inquiry. The latest specimens had matured and were currently in a large bath of water. Because Warren didn't know how to make the lights in the room work he was using just a flashlight to see. As he approached closer to the unknown water tank, he turned the light that illuminated a specimen jar containing a dead Goa'uld.

Warren screamed, falling backward into the tank of modified Goa'uld. The closest Goa'uld, sensing a possible host, acted on instinct. It swam to him, beating out the others as it entered into the host's side. It quickly made its way to the spot it knew it was supposed to be, and began healing and strengthening the host.

If the Tok'ra had found these Goa'uld and understood what they were looking at; they would have been overjoyed. These goa'uld were blank slates. They had all of the instincts, but none of the knowledge or personality of their parents. And unlike the ones that Egeria was creating on Pangara, they would gain those things from their first host. When the host finally died they would live on as a symbiote, possibly a Goa'uld, or Tok'ra depending on the nature of the host.

Andrew came rushing in, "What's the matter?" he asked Warren, as the soaked man got up and out of the tub.

"I fell," Warren said. "And I think one of those things bit me." Warren was looking at his side. The skin was red and a little torn, but it barely looked like a scrape.

"What things," Andrew asked as he shined his light at the water. More of the modified Goa'uld raced around in the water, visible in the light. "Aah!" screamed Andrew.

"Shut up," Warren said. "Get me to something to capture some of these things with. I want to take some with us, maybe they'll be worth something." Andrew looked around and found some containers that looked like they were designed to hold the things. He brought two back to Warren.

"Go on grab some of them," Warren ordered.

Andrew looked at him and then the tub, "Ah, you'll have to show me how."

Warren sighed, "April," He commanded, "Grab some of those things and put them in the containers."

The sexbot smiled, "Anything for you Warren." It reached into the water and managed to pull out two of the creatures, placing them in the containers.

"Have you found anything else?" Warren asked.

"I think so," Andrew said. "But I can't get the door open. It's got a bunch of locks on it."

"Well show me where it is," Warren said.

Andrew led Warren to another room, the room had a heavy steel door at the far end that was sealed with a computerized lock and palm plate. Warren took one look at it and knew this was it, the big score. "Good job, number one," He praised Andrew.

Warren started examining the lock and the computer terminal. Prying it open he started pulling wires and finding access ports. Calling April over he opened her up and started connecting her to the system.

Once she was fully connected April said, "I'm ready when you are Warren, you big stud."

"April I want you to open this door for me," Warren ordered with a smile.

April started trying to comply. Warren's system was better than the initiative's, but not by that much. As April worked to open the door. Other systems were tracking her. She opened the door and said, "It's open Master," when a large power surge ran through her. The sexbot started sparking and smoking, then it shut down.

"No," Warren cried, "You bastards! You killed April."

Andrew had opened the door all the way and called Warren, "Warren, look, it's what we were looking for." Inside were more of the staffs they had seen. And a few weird ribbon things with a big jewel on the top. Warren forgot April as he started grabbing everything they could throw into their packs.

As soon as they were loaded Warren took one last look at April. Realizing he couldn't fix her here he knew he would have to leave her. Hopefully, whatever had fried her had destroyed her memory systems.

Heading out with Andrew they snuck through the caves, it was almost morning by the time they made their way back to Andrews van. "We did it," Andrew said. "We raided the dungeon and returned triumphantly!"

Warren smiled, "You did well my padawan, soon you will be a jedi."  
_

With the dawning of the new day Jack had all of the special teams moving. They were going to take advantage of every hour of daylight they could. The members of Bones' team started going through the computer records. Tim, Angela, and Abby were working on those. Bones and Ducky were in charge of the autopsies, with the other scientist such as Zack assisting where needed.

When a team reported that they had found a robot that had not been there the night before Gibbs sent Booth and DiNozzo to investigate. They pulled multiple prints from the vault. Although none of them belonged to Warren or Andrew, they would eventually pull Warren's prints from inside of April. The rest of the day was spent with teams combing the base for prints and any physical clues they could find.

Bones was horrified at the room where the female zombies had been found. It had a walk-in freezer designed for body storage. The thing was over full from the Initiative personnel that Hathor had ordered killed and converted. It would become obvious over the course of the investigation that if they had waited to assault the base they would have been facing over one hundred of the Demon cyborgs. Knowing how twenty of the things had decimated their force, everyone who read that report came to the conclusion that the right call had been made to assault the base.

All the new personnel were ordered to leave the base one hour before sunset. Getting everyone up and down the elevator shaft was impossible until they did a lot of repair work. The secondary entrance in the woods was used to haul everyone in and out.

That night Bones set up a projector in one of the motor pool bays. Most of the personnel involved in the project watched the footage that Angela had put together. It showed the assault on the Initiative. It was an amazing experience, Tim thought if they could ever release it, they could make a blockbuster movie. Surprisingly Tony actually agreed with him.

The next few days were interesting for the scientists. The work they were going over was horrific. Dr. Walsh would have given Mengele nightmares. Although Zack, one of the Jeffersonian scientists, found her work oddly compelling.  
_

Warren had noticed how after being bitten he was feeling much better. In fact, the minor wound was gone the next day. He was feeling stronger as well. Warren knew he would have to do some experimenting. He called Andrew over to his lab. So far they hadn't done anything with the items they had looted from the military base. They had been safely hidden away. In storage units that had the names of people who had disappeared as their owners.

"Andrew," Warren began. "I wanted to share with you a great discovery."

"What is it Warren?" Andrew asked. His hero would be teaching him more.

Pulling out the Goa'uld, Warren said. "The other night, one of these things bit me. Since then I've gotten stronger. My vision is better, physically I'm in better shape than I've ever been in."

"Holy radioactive spiders," Andrew said in awe. "You mean one bite and this thing can give me superpowers? Is it like a super-soldier serum? Maybe that's why the military is all over the base. It was one of the Hydra's secret installations."

Warren wondered at just how mentally damaged Andrew was, his grip on reality was tenuous at best. "Maybe," Warren said. "I mean not everyone bitten could have become Spider-Man. So are you willing to see if you have what it takes to become a hero?"

Andrew nodded eagerly, he could see himself becoming the new Captain America, tall strong and handsome. "What do I need to do?"

"Well, I was bitten so I want you to open one of the jars and let it bite you." Warren had already found out that the things avoided him when he tried to get one of them to bite him again.

Andrew gulped, "OK, I'll do it." He approached one of the containers, opening the lid just enough to get his arm in the water. The Goa'uld sensing a possible host moved towards the arm. It started wrapping itself around Andrew's arm. "Ahg," Andrew screamed, trying to pull his arm out of the creature's grip. His panicked reaction caused the lid to fall completely off. The creature made its way farther up his arm. It reared back, small fins flaring around it head. Andrew screamed and jerked his head back as the thing struck. It missed his open mouth and burrowed into his body where the neck connected to his shoulders. Andrew screamed again and fell to the floor.

Warren was shocked: What was happening? Why was this thing killing Andrew? And at least it didn't do that to him. Andrew was on the ground bleeding. Warren wasn't willing to approach Andrew's body, "Shit, now what am I going to do?" Warren said. "OK, I'm going to have to move the body first." He looked around his lab, "What can I use? I don't want to be attacked by that thing."

After almost five minutes Warren still didn't have a good plan. Andrew was still passed out, not dead. Because of the fear and falling to the ground, the new Goa'uld had found the host easy to blend with. It was even now melding with and becoming Andrew. Already it had repaired the damage caused by entering into its host's body.

Andrew opened his eyes, "Ow, Warren, was that a dream?"

Warren looked over amazed. Andrew was alive. He looked closer; the wound the creature had given Andrew was already closed up. In fact, it looked exactly like his side had from when he was bitten. Warren suddenly had a very bad thought. He startled Andrew when he screamed. "Shit! Fuck! One of those things is in me!"

Andrew looked down at his blood covered shirt and realized it hadn't been a dream, "Oh, God, Warren is this like Aliens, is this thing going to be bursting out of my chest?" Both men were now in a full panic. The situation could have become very dangerous if it wasn't for their symbiotes. Sensing the host's distress they both started suppressing the chemicals that were causing the reaction.

To Andrew and Warren, it felt like going from drunk to stone cold sober. "What just happened," Warren asked.

"I don't know Warren," Andrew supplied. "I was so scared and suddenly I'm not. We have to find out what these things are."

Warren nodded, "First we need to be able to see what they've done to us. Where they are inside of us. We need some X-rays or an MRI. But we can't let anyone know. If those military guys find us they'll cut us up just like the people in the freezer."

Andrew nodded, Warren always had the best plans. "Where can we get X-rays, the hospital?"

"No, too public," Warren said. "I can probably build something that will work. Come on number one, let's get to work."

The rest of the afternoon was spent building a device, Warren thought he needed something better than an X-ray machine especially since radioactive material could be hard to get a hold of. Finally, he had something that was more like the bastard child of a sonogram. Turning to Andrew he said, "Ready to see what is going on, number one?"

Andrew nodded and took off his shirt following Warren's direction. Warren took the wand he had designed and applied a gel to Andrews back. He started running the wand over Andrew's head and chest. The images showed that the creature had wrapped itself around Andrews' spine. It had tendrils sunk into his spine and going up into his brain.

"We need to compare the images," Warren said. Taking off his shirt he changed places with Andrew.

Katrina Silber had been stuck in Sunnydale for three days. This quarantine was weird, but she had been visiting her aunt and got stuck here. She had finally remembered the guy she had met at the mechanical engineering seminar was going to school here in Sunnydale. It took her a little while but she was able to track down where Warren was. Heading towards his lab she was about to open the door to say hello when she heard Warren's voice.

"Use the gel Andrew, the wand won't work right if I'm dry."

"Hold on Warren let me spread it evenly," another voice said; Andrew's, Katrina guessed.

"That feels good," came Warren's voice.

"I know when you did me it was cold so I warmed it up while you were taking off your shirt," Andrew replied.

Opening the door to confirm her guess, Katrina saw Warren topless with a small blonde man, also topless, slathering some kind of gel on his chest. "Oh, ah, sorry," Katrina said. "I thought, ah I thought something else I've got to go…" Katrina couldn't believe she'd been so wrong about Warren; she really thought he was into her. Smiling at Warren she said as she closed the door, "You two make a really cute couple." She quickly left the building; she needed to get out of Sunnydale as soon as she could.  
_

I am sorry for the late update. I was actually down with some really nasty cold. I could hardly think the last five days. So to make it up double updates today. 


	24. Chapter 24

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.  
_

Chapter 24 _

Warren was looking at the door that the girl had just closed. The girl looked familiar. But how dare she think he was gay? Warren Meers was all man. He would have gotten up to follow her but he needed to know what was going on with the thing inside of him.

"Hurry up, Andrew," he snapped. "Who does that Bitch think she is? I mean how could she think that I, Warren Meers, could be anything less than one hundred percent all man? Once we get done I'm going to find that Bitch and prove to her just how manly I am," Warren fumed.

Andrew nodded; he wasn't upset. After all, the girl had called him cute, or maybe them cute, but either way, cute wasn't bad. "Hold still, Warren," Andrew said as he started running the wand over Warren's body.

Once done Warren quickly went to get cleaned up. Looking at Andrew he ordered, "Get cleaned up and get a shirt on."

Pulling up the images, they could see that the Warren had one of the creatures inside of him as well. It looked identical to what was in Andrew. Both men were relieved that it didn't look like it was spawning into some kind of alien that would rip its way out of their chests.

"So what is it doing?" Warren mused. "It's obviously doing something, look at how those things are latched onto the spine and even into the brain. But what is it affecting?"

"Well," Andrew said, thinking Warren had been asking his opinion. "I think it's trying to help, you know how when we were panicking it calmed us down. And you said you're healthier now than ever before. So it's trying to improve us."

"I was not panicking," Warren bit out. "You were the one who was panicking!"

"Ah, OK Warren." Andrew meekly said. "Oh, what if it's like a Trill? You know it could be a symbiote like in Deep Space Nine, and we're now hosts for it."

"It's not a Trill," Warren snapped. "We're not developing spots and it looks nothing like the Trill do."

"Ok it's not a Trill," Andrew admitted. "But it could be a symbiote like the Trill are. Giving the host something for getting to live inside of them."

Warren was going to cut Andrew down again when he realized Andrew might be right. "That's not a bad idea," He said. Andrew preened at the praise. "So what benefits is it giving me," Warren thought, then said. "So far I'm healthier, I think I may be stronger too. And it may help with healing but we'll need to test that out. Andrew grab me a knife from over there." Warren indicated a table holding lab equipment.

"What do you want with a knife?" Andrew asked.

"I want to cut your arm to see how fast it heals," Warren said.

"What," Andrew protested, "No I mean I just got my Trill, you've had one longer you should test it first!"

Warren scoffed, "Fine, you big baby." Warren made a shallow cut on his arm. The cut bled for less than a minute before they could see it had already stopped bleeding. "See? No big deal," Warren said, waving his arm. "Now let me cut you."

A nervous Andrew presented his arm. "Not too deep," he said.

Warren, being Warren, really didn't listen or care. The cut he gave Andrew was much deeper than his own. "Owch," Andrew complained. Even as the pain registered the symbiote was already stopping the pain, and starting to heal its host. "Why'd you cut me so deep?" Andrew asked.

"Quit whining," Warren commanded. "It shouldn't even hurt now. And look the blood is already stopped." Warren was impressed. If these tests were right then these symbiotes could give him a real edge.

Andrew realized that Warren was right, "It doesn't hurt," he marveled. "What else do you think it will do for us?"

"I don't know but we have one more of the things," Warren said. "I think I might want to dissect it. Find out everything I can about it."

"Warren, you can't," protested Andrew. "These are noble creatures. We can't dissect it, it would go against everything Star Fleet stands for."

Warren looked at his minion. Would it be worth it? He thought. Warren sighed, "You're probably right, number one. After all neither of us are xenobiologists. What we need to do is find a good host for it. Someone who shares our goals and dreams."

Andrew nodded, "I bet the traitor would cry if he saw what he was missing now."

Warren looked at Andrew, "We don't need to talk about him. We will make him rue the day he betrayed me!" Andrew nodded in agreement, Jono would be begging to have the third symbiote if he knew about it.

"So who do we give it to?" Andrew asked. "It can't be just anyone. We need to find a superior host like ourselves."

"We'll have to look for just the right person," Warren said. "Number one, I want you to start searching, talk to people but don't tell anyone about this. I'm sure you can find the right person." Warren didn't want to find a new minion himself, but he figured Andrew couldn't screw this up.

"Yes, mon Capitan," Andrew enthusiastically agreed. He was so happy that Warren trusted him to do important things. "I shall start canvassing the area in order to find someone worthy."

"Yeah, whatever," Warren said. "Now get the lab cleaned up. I have some things to do." Andrew nodded as Warren left his minion to do the scut work.

Bones and the entire crew of the Jeffersonian were being taught today by John Anderson of the Watcher's Council. Hodgins on learning what they really did was amazed. "I knew they were hiding something, but I would never have thought it was knowledge of demons," He told Zack.

"I agree," Zack said. "Although I don't know why these watchers don't share more of their knowledge. It would greatly benefit the scientific community."

"Come on Zack," Hodgins said. "Too many people would panic if this was common knowledge."

Anderson was going through the remaining cages. So far most of the demons that had been left alive were from either very weak species, or very pacifistic ones. "Pointing to the current cage, "This is a Lister Demon; the Lister demons are almost complete pacifists. They are no threat to humanity. In fact, many times they have aided us in passing on information about the more violent types of demons. Can someone open this door? He really should be let out of here."

When the door was opened the untrusting demon took some coaching to get it to leave the cage. Once out Bones asked, "Are there any more of your kind here?"

"The Lister said, "I was captured with two others, my sister and her child." Bones nodded and told the staff to look for the other two. They found both females in the same cage. The child didn't look healthy, but the mother was overjoyed to be reunited with her brother.

"We'll make sure you get whatever medical care you need," Bones promised. "What was done here was an abomination." The Lister was relieved to hear the human say that and cautiously agreed to let them aid his sister and niece.

The next few cages held vampires. Everyone was amazed at how human they looked; this led to Anderson explaining how a vampire reproduced. When he explained about the soul leaving the body, Bones scoffed at his ridiculous clinging to such outdated ideas. But didn't directly challenge him on it.

Turning to two of the Jaffa who were accompanying them Anderson said, "Would you please use your, um, Zats to shoot the vampire. I would like to get it strapped down so that all of these people can feel that it truly is an animated corpse."

The Jaffa agreed and when the door opened and the vampire tried to charge them they hit it with two shots from their Zats. This knocked the creature out and it was quickly strapped to a table with chains.

"Now I would like all of you to please come and feel for a pulse, check for any normal signs of life you would expect to find in a human being," Anderson instructed.

"That would be futile," Bones said. "The Jaffa shot it twice with the Zat'nik'tel that is enough to kill. So it is already dead."

"Ah," Anderson said. "That may be true with living creatures but this is a vampire. As such it was not alive to be killed and will most likely regain consciousness soon. Before that happens I would like you all to please examine the body for signs of life."

One by one everyone was examining the corpse. Bones was one of the last to start feeling the body. As she was touching it the vampire regained consciousness. It snarled at her, its face deforming and eyes turning yellow. "I will kill you all," it promised, "I'm going to bathe in your blood."

"Interesting," Bones said "This vampire has no leverage to get free but still it makes promises of death. When if it was more intelligent it would be trying to convince us to let it go. Why is that?" She asked Anderson.

"The demon that inhabits the corpse,' Anderson began, "is driven by bloodlust. A vampire can survive on any type of mammalian blood. Yet they chose to hunt humans."

"Why would I want to give up humans?" the vampire snarled. "You taste better when fear is pumping through your blood. And when you scream and beg it's like sweet music. I'm going to hear you all begging for your lives."

"Yes, of course, you will," Anderson said. "Now a vampire can be killed in several ways. Sunlight, if they are exposed long enough will cause them to burst into flames. Holy water reacts like acid to them."

"Please," Bones said. "That is ridiculous, if they react like that to water, it must just be water. There is nothing different between so-called holy water and regular water."

"Why don't we test that Dr. Brennan?" Anderson asked. "I always carry holy water with me. Please get some regular water and I can show you the difference. After we are done I will give you the rest of my water so that you can test it." Bones reluctantly agreed and sent Zack to get some water.

Pouring the normal water over the vampire had no reaction except to get it wet. However, when Anderson poured a small amount of holy water on the vampire it started screaming in pain as its flesh smoked.

Handing the flask to Bones, Anderson said, "Please feel free to test this. I assure you your tests will say it is normal water." Bones took the flask determined to have Hodgins examine the contents later.

"Now, As I was saying Vampires are also very flammable. I have a flare gun we will use on one of the other specimens, so that you can see how easily they go up in flames. The other ways to kill vampires are beheading or a wooden stake through the heart. Now it must be wood. To demonstrate this I have here a dagger. Would one of you be willing to stab this vampire in the heart with the dagger?"

At first, no one wanted to do it, but Zack spoke up, "I'll do it." He took the dagger from Anderson and stabbed the vampire in the chest angling the dagger to pierce the heart. The vampire screamed but the dagger had no other effect.

Abby was getting upset; she had always pictured vampires as pretty cool. She had even gone so far as to have a coffin for her bed. "How can you do this to him?" she asked. "I mean why would you do this? Vampires can't be all bad."

"I'm sorry, Miss...?" Anderson asked.

"Sciuto, Abby Sciuto," Abby replied.

Looking at the girl, with her decidedly goth look, Anderson sighed. "Contrary to popular myth, a vampire is at best a raging sociopath. When the soul leaves the body, the vampiric spirit that takes over retains all of the memories of the original host, but none of the internal controls that make us human. Most vampires begin their unlife by slaughtering whoever was closest to them while they were alive. There have been less than a handful of recorded instances in history were a vampire did not follow this pattern. And in every case the watchers are aware of, there were outside mitigating factors." Anderson paused. "I must warn you all. Vampires are not humans. If you treat one as a human it will, if you're lucky only result in your own death. If you are turned your animated corpse will hunt down and kill your loved ones. If you would like, Ms. Sciuto, I believe Dr. Giles has several watcher's diaries he could loan you, these are first-hand accounts of what various vampires have done. I believe it would be very good for you to read them."

Abby nodded unsure of what to think.

"Now who would like to see what happens when we use a wooden stake?" Anderson asked. Bones decided to do the task herself. However rather than use the stake Anderson provided she held up a number two pencil.

"Since you have claimed that anything wooden will do I would like to use this," Bones said holding up her pencil. Anderson nodded and indicated she should proceed. When she inserted the pencil in the hole Zack had created the vampire screamed and then turned to dust. "Why did the clothes disappear with it and my pencil as well?"

"Yes we are not positive," Anderson said. "However, the sixth-century scholar Dramius postulated that the demonic energy which keeps the corpse from rotting creates a small field around the corpse which is why when the vampire is destroyed any non-living thing touching it is destroyed as well. It is however only a theory. Unfortunately, vampires are much too dangerous to try and study."

"Hodgins," Bones called out. "I'd like you and Ms. Sciuto to take samples of this dust and tell me anything you can find out about it." Hodgin nodded as he opened a baggy to put some of the dust into.

By the end of the day all of the harmless demons had been released. The vampires had been destroyed along with any creatures that Anderson knew were harmful. The entire scientific team were pondering the new world they were now in.  
_

Gibbs spent his day directing people to set up cameras in every area of the Initiative. He didn't want to trust the ones that had originally been placed. The fact that they did not cover every part of the base was just another indication that they were not meant to be really helpful.

Gibbs had had to call for assistance from Colonel O'Neill to identify several things that they had found. He had sent a large black man named Teal'c and Daniel Jackson to help. When Teal'c introduced himself he explained he was a Jaffa. This led to an explanation about what the Jaffa were.

The room containing not only Goa'uld items but also tech from planets that the SGC had never seen caused some comments. However, it was Angleman's lab that was the biggest shock to both men.

Looking into the lab, Daniel said, "We need to get Jack down here. This is incredibly bad. Why would they have so many Goa'uld here? How did they capture them?"

"Daniel Jackson," Teal'c said. "I do not believe they would have been able to capture these Goa'uld. Is it possible that they have found a way to clone them?" As he looked around the room Teal'c saw something that stopped him in his tracks. "Daniel Jackson, it is imperative that this Goa'uld be cared for." He was pointing to a container holding a much larger specimen.

"Why," Gibbs asked.

"This appears to be a Goa'uld queen, Special Agent Gibbs," Teal'c said. "My people the Free Jaffa, require immature goa'uld to be implanted in our stomach pouches when we start puberty. If we do not have enough larva then our children die. A queen can produce those for us. This queen could be a great boon to the Free Jaffa. Although it looks different; there is something wrong with this Queen. We must determine what is different about it."

"I can assign some men to make sure this lab is guarded," Gibbs said.

"I would also like to assign Jaffa to assist in this," Teal'c said.

Gibbs nodded, "As long as they obey orders that's fine. DiNozzo," Gibbs called out.

"Yes Boss?" Tony said.

"Make a note for Dr. Brennan's team," Gibbs said. "We need to put a priority on any records related to this room." Tony nodded.

They ended up finding two more rooms containing Goa'uld clones in various states. The Birthing room where Warren had fallen showed a tank teeming with Goa'uld. "Please keep back, Special Agent Gibbs," Teal'c said. "These appear to be mature Goa'uld. If you get too close one may try to take you as a host."

"Get a lock on this door as well," Gibbs ordered. "And anyone coming in here needs to be in MOPP gear."

"What is Mop gear?" Teal'c asked.

"Mission Oriented Protective Posture is protective gear used by U.S. military personnel in toxic environments," Caitlin said. "Hopefully, it will prevent anyone from being taken by one of the Goa'uld in here."

"I see," Teal'c commented. "A very sensible precaution."

The other parts of the base did not yield anything else as interesting as the technology vault and the rooms containing the Goa'uld. At the end of the day Gibbs gave his team the next morning off. He knew that they all needed time to assimilate what they had learned and didn't want to cause too much stress for them.  
_

The next day Sweets found himself being summoned to Colonel O'Neill's office. When he entered he wondered what was going on. None of the other FBI agents were present. "Dr. Sweets," Col. O'Neill said. "Please sit down. I'm sure you are wondering why I asked you to come talk to me."

"Thank you, Colonel O'Neill," Sweets said as he sat down. "And yes, I was wondering that very thing."

"It's simple. You're the best of anyone on base as a psychologist," Jack began. "And aside from the fact that the personnel involved in this project will need someone to talk to, I need your expertise for a very sensitive patient."

"I can definitely understand how everyone involved has had their worldviews shattered," Sweets said. "And I am more than willing to talk with anyone you think needs my help. Please tell me about this patient you're worried about."

"My daughter Faith," Jack said. "I only recently found out she was my daughter-well, I'll let you read the project details, but needless to say, she is very special. Faith is a Slayer. She has been one for over a year. During that time she has had to kill two men, plus countless vampires and demons."

"And you're worried about how this is affecting her development?" Sweets asked.

"Not just that," Jack said. "I had suspected from reading the background report on her that she had been abused as a child. Since meeting her and talking with her Mother, Joyce Summers. It's been confirmed, she was raped for the first time as a ten-year-old. Her birth surrogate mother then started to sell her."

Sweets drew in a sharp breath, "I take it Faith hasn't talked with anyone professionally about this?"

Jack gave a low deprecating laugh, "Who could she talk to? How many shrinks know the truth about Demons, Vampires, and Aliens? Now add in the fact that my daughter is also a Furling and you can start to see the problems of finding someone qualified to help her."

"I see," Sweets said. "If it's possible I would like to read everything you have on Faith before I meet her. I won't judge her based on the reports, but they would give me valuable information about her."

Jack nodded, handing several files to Sweets. "Faith is a great girl, who has had a whole lot of shit piled on her. She's brash and outspoken, but she really needs your help. I hope you agree to help her."

"I can't think of any reason I wouldn't, Colonel O'Neill," Sweets said.

"Call me Jack," Jack said. "And I hope you don't find a reason."

"I'll have these back to you before the end of today." Sweets promised. "And you can call me Lance or Sweets; most everyone on the team calls me Sweets."

"Thank you, Sweets," Jack said as he escorted the man out of his office.  
_

Sam had been having difficulty concentrating on her work for the past few days. Ever since Xander had used the team to track Jack to the Asgard ship, she had been confronting her feelings for Jack. She had been forced to realize they really weren't those of one colleague to another. They were not even the feeling reserved for friends. She was in love with Jack O'Neill. And her oaths as an officer would forever prevent her from acting on these feelings while Jack was her commanding officer.

Unfortunately, she had no idea of whom she could talk too. Even Janet wouldn't be a good choice for this conversation. It was getting very frustrating. She contemplated talking with Joyce, while she didn't know the woman very well, she was the mother of Jack's daughter and had obviously been involved in relationships in the past. It was possible that she might be able to help her.

As Sam walked through the base she was still lost in thought when she walked into Tara, coming out one of the doors in the base infirmary. "Oh," Sam apologized, "Excuse me, my heads in the clouds and I wasn't paying enough attention to where I was going."

"That's alright,' Tara said with a smile. Looking at the Major she asked, "So what's got you distracted?"

Sam actually blushed, "Nothing really," she didn't want to talk about her love life with a twenty-something girl.

Tara laughed, "You're blushing. I don't think that's nothing. I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but sometimes it helps to have someone to bounce things off of." Tara then continued, "I know we really don't know each other, but if you need to talk to someone I promise it would stay between us. And who knows maybe it would help."

Sam thought for a moment, "I'm really not sure that that's a good idea. I mean you're very young, and I'm not sure you would know the difficulties that come with liking someone who is out of your reach."

Tara laughed again, "Sam," she began, "You do know I'm a lesbian right?" Sam shook her head; she hadn't really known that, although she had suspected based on body language. And while it might have actually been mentioned she had not consciously digested that fact. With the military culture being what it was she hadn't asked either. "Well, I am. And I can assure you I know what that's like. I've had crushes on straight girls in the past after all."

Sam laughed at that. While she wasn't gay, she could see what Tara was saying. "Fine, if you've got some time maybe we could talk," Sam said.

"Let's grab some coffee and sit down," Tara said. Once the two women had their coffee they retreated to Sam's office. "So tell me about him," Tara said.

"It's complicated," Sam began. "You probably don't know much about the military. But there are very strict rules in place regarding fraternization. But it basically comes down to the fact that officers in the same chain of command can't be romantically involved."

"Ah," Tara said, "And you'd like to be involved with a certain officer." Looking the woman over Tara continued. "So if you weren't in the same chain of command what would stop you from approaching Jack." She was fairly sure Sam was talking about Jack. Sam's answer confirmed that she was right.

"Well nothing really," Sam said. "We have a great relationship right now, and working so closely together we both have become very good friends. In fact, I wouldn't even be in this situation if it weren't for Xander!" Sam exclaimed.

That surprised Tara. "How is it Xander's fault?" She really wanted to know.

"When he had us concentrate on Jack," Sam said. "We had to really think about what we felt for him. The whole person that is Jack O'Neill. I've never actually thought about him that way before. And now that I have, it opened Pandora's box. It made me realize that I'd like to be more than friends and colleagues. But he's my commanding officer and the work we do is important."

"So couldn't you still do important work," Tara asked, "even if you were doing something else? I mean everything is changing. With the Asgard willing to help us, I thought you would probably be one of the people working on the new technology. And while I like Jack, that doesn't seem like something he would be too interested in doing."

Sam paused; she really hadn't considered that. While she loved the work she did with SG-1, the chance to learn Asgard technology would be amazing and in some ways it could be just as rewarding as the work she did now. Turning to Tara she said, "Thank you, I really hadn't thought of that. But you've given me something to think about." She smiled at Tara, "I really mean it Thank you. If I can ever lend you an ear please come talk to me."

Tara nodded and left Sam to think about her options.  
_

In Africa, Drusilla and Spike were making their way to the Demon trials. Once they had landed Drusilla had dusted her new child saying, "Kitten wouldn't like it if I left him free. And we need to make sure that Kitten does not get too cross with us."

Spike knew the Harris boy was 'Kitten', and after seeing what the boy did before being recaptured he could agree he didn't want the bastard angry at him. The boy had had the stones to stare down Angelus without any powers, and now he had some serious mojo.

"Course we wouldn't want that, Luv," Spike said to Drusilla. "So where are we going?"

"Oh, Spike," Drusilla moaned. "It's going to be so much fun. We're going to the wishing place. Where all of our dreams and nightmares can come true. You'd have gone on your own but it's going to be so much better now." Drusilla looked very serious as she focused on Spike. "Whatever you do you must not speak your wish, if you do it shan't come true, not like it should. No, it won't so I wrote it down and sealed it up. Once the wishing demon asks you must give him the letter. Then we shall be tigers. And you my dear sweet boy, you will never, ever become a puppy."

Spike smiled, "Wouldn't want that to ever happen, Dru. Be all broody like Angel, ha, I'd rather be staked than have that happen." Spike declared. "So I'll just hold onto this letter and when the demon asks I just give it to him right?"

Drusilla nodded, " Keep it close to your heart where it will be safe as boxes. Ms. Edith has promised if you do the stars will glow for us... with shiny bright lights."

"So what's going to happen when we get there, Dru?" Spike asked.

"Oh, my Spike will fight," Drusilla said. "So many demons you'll fight, ones with flames, and ones with spikes. Ones that can't be seen but smell ever so bad. You'll be fighting, you will, for today and tomorrow and the next. But you're my Spike so you'll beat them all. Just drink every time you can. Even the nasty demon blood will help keep you strong."

Spike nodded. So three days of constant fighting; right, he could do that. And in some of the fights the opponent would have a fire or be on fire. Best to make sure he had his coat with him. And one would be invisible but he could smell him out. Spike knew there would be others but these were probably the worst of the lot.

"I'll win for you, Luv," he promised Drusilla. "Always and forever for you."

"And you'll stay with me and guard me forever?" Drusilla asked.

"Forever and ever, Luv," Spike said as he kissed a very happy Drusilla. Turning, Spike entered the Cave to start the trials.  
_

Andrew had been hunting. He had his orders from Warren: find someone worthy to become a Trill. He had been walking around the campus and his normal haunts in Sunnydale. Somewhere there had to be someone who would be worthy of joining them.

Zack had asked Dr. Brennan for time off this afternoon; while the work was very interesting, he wanted to find something to distract him in the evenings when they were at their temporary homes.

He had stumbled upon Sunnydale's only comic shop/bookstore hoping to find something entertaining. As he was talking to the sales person he noticed the short blonde man paying particular attention to him. Finally, he had to ask, "Is there some reason you have been watching me?"

Andrew thought for a moment, "You're new to Sunnydale, aren't you? I know all of the people who normally come here, and I've never seen you before."

"Yes, I am," Zack confirmed. "I was hoping to find something to do in my spare time, but they don't have a large selection of the things I like here."

"Well what are you interested in?" Andrew asked. "I might be able to help you if you are a fellow walker of the paths."

Zack wasn't sure what the 'paths' were but he figured there would be no problem talking to this person. When he began describing his likes, Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, making models the man was getting very excited.

"You've got to meet Warren," he said. "You'd fit right in with us."

"Who are you?" Zack asked.

"I'm Andrew," Andrew said. He then started talking in more details about himself and Warren how they loved all the same things, he was practically begging Zack to come over sometime to hang out.

Zack was flattered; normally people did not want to be around him. However he also knew that everyone was required to be on base before sunset everyday. When he explained that he couldn't meet after dark, Andrew looked at him knowingly and said that was fine, that they could meet sometime in the afternoon. After giving Zack a phone number Andrew left to talk to Warren; he was sure Warren would be very pleased with his progress.  
_

Gibbs was heading over to talk to Colonel O'Neill. He had received a call from him early in the morning and been at his office at oh seven hundred. Once inside Colonel O'Neill had handed him a small tape taken from a video camera.

"Someone taped the assault on the Initiative," Jack said. "I just found out about it last night. I also found out that two of the three people involved were talking about trying to kidnap Alexander Giles."

Gibbs was startled. From everything he had been learning, while he doubted they would succeed, it would be very bad for the US if someone tried.

"Grab someone from the FBI and go over this tape, then I want you to see about bringing in Warren Meers and Andrew Wells. If we have anything we can charge them with, then charge them; if we don't, I want them too scared to even think about following through on their ideas."

"Consider it done," Gibbs said. He took the tape and left to find Agent Booth and the rest of his team; this would be taking priority.

After listening to the tape, everyone agreed there was not enough there for a kidnapping charge. However, nothing would prevent them from bringing the two men in since they had threatened a foreign dignitary. Scuttlebut around the base was already talking about how Rupert Giles would be becoming an Earl. It made things much easier to deal with. Now they just had to find the two men.  
_

Abby and Tim had been working on the robot found outside of the formerly secure storage room. Both of them were amazed at the details that were included in this machine. Abby had freaked out when examining the robot revealed it was designed to perfectly mimic a woman, right down to the plumbing.

"This is so gross, McGee," Abby said. "I mean, really, why does a robot need a functioning vagina? What kind of a person would build one?"

"You know, Abby," Tim began, "If I had to guess I'd say someone built it as some kind of a sexbot."

"Eww," Abby said, "That's just gross, McGee."

"Yeah, but I can see how someone could do that," Tim said, then he hastily added, "Not that I ever would do something like that but someone who's really twisted might."

"Right, McGee," Abby said. They had the sexbot taken apart on the table. Looking over the various parts, Abby handed some hard drives to Tim. "Here I think these were its hard drives. See if you can get anything off of them. I'm going to try and see if they left any prints on the internal components." Tim nodded and went to try and see what he could get off of the hard drives.

It took them most of the day, but they finally had recovered enough to not only know that the sexbots creator was someone named Warren, but Abby had pulled enough partial prints to create a complete print. They were able to find a Warren Meers-he was a student at UC Sunnydale-in the computer files that the Initiative had on everyone enrolled on campus.

Abby had to check with Hodgins. "So does this make me a queen?"

"Only if it leads to Booth-or I guess now Gibbs-bringing him in as a suspect," Hodgins said.

"OK I'll check with Gibbs, but if it does I demand a tribute of Caf-Pow," Abby told Hodgins.

Hodgins nodded his head smiling, "If it pans out I shall comply with your Majesty's wishes." he said.

Abby left to call Gibbs, she probably should have gone through Dr. Brennan, but she wasn't used to working as part of a team. Once she heard Gibbs answer Abby started talking, "Oh Gibbs, McGee and I found something on the sexbot."

"What sexbot, Abby?" Gibbs asked.

"The one that was used to break into the storage area here in the base. It's a sexbot; the guy who built it made it so that it would be fully functional. And that is so gross. I mean what kind of a guy needs to make a girlfriend for sex?" Abby was going full steam ahead.

"Abby," Gibbs yelled into that phone.

"What, Gibbs?" Abby asked.

"You haven't told me who built the robot," Gibbs said.

"Oh, yeah, but it's a sexbot, not a robot," Abby said. "McGee pulled some code from the harddrive, and that had the sexbot calling someone named Warren, it was programmed to talk about how sexy and manly Warren was. And I managed to create a full fingerprint set from the internal parts and we matched it to a student at UC Sunnydale, his name is Warren Mears."

"Abby," Gibbs said in his happy voice, 'Great Job! Have McGee bring everything you have to me as ASAP. We were already trying to find Mears to take him in for questioning."

"Sure thing, Gibbs." Abby hung up and grabbed McGee, telling him Gibbs wanted everything right now. Once Tim left she ran over to where Hodgins was working, "Ha! Bow down before your Queen," Abby declared.

Once she had explained what had happened, Hodgins said, "OK, you've won it fair and square your highness, you are Queen of the lab." As Abby preened, he added. "But remember uneasy sits the head that wears the crown, I shall recover my title."

Abby laughed, "You can try, see you later." She left to go back to her lab smiling.  
_

Gibbs was explaining what Abby and McGee had found to Booth and his regular team when McGee showed up with the file on the sexbot. It also had addresses for Warren's home, dorm assignment and his class schedule. They realized they did not have enough to arrest him currently; they did, however, have enough to bring him in for questioning. Booth was sent with Tony to check the dorm room and his lab on campus, while Gibbs and Todd went to check his home address.

Booth and Tony found Warren in his lab, working on something. When they opened the door to the lab, Warren looked up.

"This is a private lab. Unless you're part of the engineering group you need to leave," Warren said.

"Warren Mears," Booth began, "I'm Special Agent Booth with the FBI, this is Special Agent DiNozzo with NCIS."

"What do you want?" Warren sneered. He knew that there was no way these two would have anything on him.

"Well," Tony began, "We want you to come with us. We have some questions you need to answer."

"Do you have an arrest warrant?" Warren asked.

"Not yet," Booth said.

"Well," Warren said, "Come back when you do. Now, get out of my lab."

"Hey he's pretty funny," Tony said. "He thinks we have to arrest him to bring him in for questioning."

"I blame it on T.V.," Booth said. "I mean all those cop shows, you know how they never get it right."

"Yeah," Tony agreed. "I mean they always have the case wrapped up inside of the hour when in reality it takes days or weeks to get the bad guy."

"So Warren," Booth said. "We can do this the hard way, with handcuffs and everybody watching as we walk you out of here. Or the easy way where you come along nicely. It's really up to you, so what do you say sport, easy or hard?"

"Fine," Warren said, "Let me get my jacket and lock up my lab. This had better not take long."

"It will take as long as it takes," Tony said. "And don't worry about your lab we'll have people in here taking good care of everything."

"You can't do that," Warren was practically screaming. "This is a private lab! It's my private lab!"

"Which is part of a public school, a public school in the state of California, which is part of the United State and guess what Warren, we are from the Government," Booth said. "We can go into your lab because it's located in a Government building. You know for a supposedly smart guy you're really kinda dumb."

Warren was thinking about trying to make a break for it, but he saw Andrew up ahead, instead he said in a loud voice, "There's nothing in my lab, you cretins are just trying to fuck with me. Once we get done I'm going to sue both of you." He saw Andrew draw a deep breath and nod his head as he walked by. Now he knew it should be fine, Andrew would get the symbiote out of his lab.

Booth and Tony just looked at him, "You really don't know anything do you, genius?" Booth said. It wasn't a question.

Once they had arrived back at the Sunnydale base they placed Warren in an interview room, realistically it was the only interview room on the base, and left him there. While they waited for the others to arrive they watched him.

Warren was pissed. How dare they do this to him? He was Warren Mears, who the hell did they think they were? Warren sat quietly and thought about what he would eventually do to both men.

Gibbs arrived with the rest of the team, including Sweets. "Alright, people let's talk about what we know."

"Well boss," McGee began, "The sexbot he built was designed with excruciating detail."

"Wait Probie," Tony broke in, "This guy built a sexbot? Was it hot?"

"You're a pig, Tony," Caitlin said

"Yes, he built a sexbot and it looked like it was fully functional, too," McGee answered.

"Enough Tony," Gibbs said. "What does that tell us about Mears?"

"Well he obviously has problems relating to women," Sweets said. "In fact based on his overall looks and intelligence, I would say he was definitely a geek in high school. Probably turned down by every female he ever approached. By building a programmable girlfriend he was creating the perfect woman that he could control. I would guess he's also a misogynist and feels that women are by their very natures inferior to him. How far his superiority complex goes I couldn't guess."

"Oh he thinks he's better than everyone else," Booth said. "When we were bringing him in he was talking down to us the entire time. What was it he called us Tony, Cretins?"

"Yeah, that was it," Tony confirmed. "This guy is one cold fish, though, I mean he has been sitting in there for over twenty minutes and has hardly moved."

"So let's sweat him," Gibbs said. "We'll leave him alone for another hour before we talk to him, Sweets you said he's a misogynist right?"

"Yes I did, why?" Sweets asked.

"Todd, you're going to be doing the interview," Gibbs said. "Booth, you'll be in with her. McGee, DiNozzo go start checking out his lab. Get some of Dr. Brennan's people to help you."

"Got it, Boss," Tony said. "Come on Probie." Tony and McGee left to go search Warren's lab.

"Dr. Sweets," Gibbs said, "I want you in here with me observing."  
_

Once Warren was out of sight Andrew hurried to Warren's lab. He didn't know what was happening but he knew Warren was counting on him. He gathered up the symbiote and looked for anything else he thought might be incriminating. He didn't think about Warren's new prototypes, but he did grab the things they used when breaking into the Initiative.

Putting everything into a box he quickly left Warren's lab, forgetting to lock the door behind him. When Tony and McGee arrived they were met by Bones and Hodgins. Heading into the building they approached the lab door. As Tony went to open it he grasped the doorknob and when it turned and opened said, "Someone's been in here. Mears locked it before we left." Pulling their weapons both Tony and McGee entered the room. Tony pointed to an open closet door that he knew had been closed when they left. Checking the room they made sure no one was there before calling in Bones and Hodgins.

"Someones been here," Tony said. "When Booth and I were here, that closet door was closed, and Mears locked the door before we left. McDork, start dusting for prints in the closet, I'm going to check outside to see if there were any cameras that might have seen anyone coming or going." Turning to Bones, Tony said, "I'm guessing you already know what to do so I'll leave you with McProbie."

Bones nodded, "That will be fine."

Tony left the three of them to start checking everything in the lab. Hodgins was helping McGee with the closet, "What the hell are these things," He asked picking up a box of Warren's prototypes.

"I have no idea," McGee admitted. "The guy is either a genius or certifiable. I mean one of these blueprints says it's for a freeze ray."

"Well he did build a sexbot," Hodgins said. "So he could be both a genius and certifiable."

Both men agreed on that point as they kept checking the room. In one corner of the lab, Bones found something interesting. A container similar to the ones used in the Initiative's cloning section. "Hodgins," Bones called out. Once Hodgins was there she told him, "We need to see if this container may have had a Goa'uld in it. I want it checked for trace particles and see if it has an inventory tag that we can match."

"I'll get right on it as soon as we get it back to the lab," Hodgins promised.  
_

Back at the base everyone was continuing to observe Warren. Once the time was up Caitlin went with Booth to start the interrogation. Opening the door Caitlin entered and sat across from Warren, Booth sat to the side of the table.

"About time you got here," Warren said to Booth.

"Well Mr. Mears," Caitlin began. "We wanted to make sure we had all of the facts before we started talking to you."

"You don't have any facts," Warren sneered. "So why don't you just let me go now, toots."

"My Name is Special Agent Todd," Caitlin said. "Now Mr. Mears what can you tell us about this?" Caitlin spread out several photos showing a disassembled April.

"You bitch," Warren said. "What did you do to her you stupid bitch?"

"Really Warren," Caitlin said, "For a supposedly smart person you really are pretty dumb. I mean really I told you my name, and you can't remember that for three seconds. I guess that explains why you had to build yourself a sexbot. No real woman would want anything to do with someone as pitiful as you."

"Right if I wanted, you would be on your knees blowing me right now bitch," Warren said. "Plenty of women have seen what I can do and they all beg for more."

"I doubt that," Caitlin said.

"No I believe him," Booth said, "I believe plenty of women beg him; to just leave them alone. After all, he is pretty pathetic, I mean look at him, he probably never had a single date in high school."

"Oh I know," Caitlin agreed, "I doubt he could even get a pity date."

"Well unless he was gay," Booth said. "Is that it, Warren are you in the closet and that's why you built the fake girlfriend. You didn't want anyone to know you're gay?"

Warren was fuming, "How dare you? You think you can talk that way to me,...I'll...I'll"

"You'll what Warren?" Caitlin asked. "You'll cry because the girls all know you're gay?"

Warren looked like he was about to lunge across the table and strangle Caitlin when suddenly he stopped. It was like a switch was thrown. "What do you want? Where did you find April?"

"Oh, is that your sexbots name? April?" Booth asked.

"I created a masterpiece of engineering," Warren calmly said. "Which it looks like you have destroyed. So what do you want?"

"We want to know what your sexbot was doing where we found her. Tell me, Warren, what were you doing the night that Lowell house fell down?" Caitlin asked.

"Not that it's any of your business but me and two friends were having a gaming session," Warren said. "And you still haven't said where you found April."

"Well, Warren, your sexbot was found someplace she wasn't supposed to be. Inside of a top-secret military base. Can you tell me what you were doing inside the base?" Caitlin asked.

"What base?" Warren said. "The only base I know about it the one we're in right now. And if April was there it was because someone stole her. The last time I booted her up was over a month ago to check some of her programming."

"We have your prints," Caitlin said. "This would really go a lot easier if you just admitted to trespassing on a military base, the fine isn't that bad."

"The only prints you have of mine would have come from inside of April," Warren said after a minute. "And since April disappeared from my lab several days ago, I don't know how she got where ever she was."

"So did you report your sexbot was stolen?" Caitlin asked. "After all, it would probably be worth a lot of money."

"No, I didn't," Warren said, sneering at Caitlin he went on. "This is Sunnydale, the cops here are incompetent, reporting her stolen would have only gotten me ridiculed. I just hoped they hadn't got rid of my backup programs because I knew she would eventually come back to me." Warren looked at both of the agents then turned to Booth, "I've answered your questions, now I want to leave."

"Not just yet," Caitlin said. "We'll need to check a few things. You stay right here and we'll be back in a little while."

Booth and Caitlin exited the interrogation room, going to meet with the rest of the team. Tony and McGee had returned. And caught the end of the interview. Once everyone was seated Gibbs said, "Sweets, what do you think?"

"I think that Warren Mears is at least a sociopath," Sweets said. "Did you notice during the beginning of the interview he was getting very angry, then it was like someone flipped a switch. Suddenly he was completely in control. It's possible he has multiple personality disorder, but I don't think that's it." Sweets paused, "And he definitely has a superiority complex, along with narcissism. From listening to the tape that Agent Gibbs gave us you can hear it even down to his evil laugh with his minions."

"Booth, what do you think?" Gibbs said.

"I think that guy is completely psycho," Booth said. "And someone is going to end up killing him just to protect themselves from him. I've talked to some sick people in this job, but he made my skin crawl."

"He's right, Gibbs," Caitlin said. "Even being in a room with that guy part of me wanted to shoot him. Because he will be a problem in the future. You were right too, he's a massive misogynist. He was reacting exactly as we thought he would till he pulled that switch."

"DiNozzo, McGee, what did you find in his lab?" Gibbs asked.

"Boss, someone was in there before we got there," DiNozzo said. "Mears made a big deal of locking the door before we left. When we got there the door was unlocked and a storage room that had the door closed was open."

"Did you find anything incriminating?" Gibbs asked.

"Maybe, Boss," McGee said. "Dr. Brennan found a container that looks like it came from one of the Initiative's labs. But we can't know for sure. The lab is trying to pull trace off of it and see if there are any serial or lot numbers on it."

"So what's our next move, Gibbs?" Booth asked. "We still haven't brought up the kidnapping."

"Let him sit for a while more, then I'll go in with Sweets. Sweets you try and pull the we're so much alike card. Play the misunderstood genius if you see the chance." Gibbs said. "Alright people, grab some food."  
_

Ten minutes after Booth and Caitlin had left Warren was feeling normal again. He was seeing the pattern; whenever he got too upset the symbiote helped him calm down. He smiled at what he was sure was a two-way mirror watching him. He might have lost it and really been in trouble if not for the symbiote's help. He was seeing more and more benefits from this thing all the time. Now if he could figure out how to trigger the Vulcan state without getting upset.

After what felt like another two hours but was only another hour according to his watch, two new agents came into the room. "Are you ready to let me go and apologize yet?" he sneered.

"I'm Agent Gibbs, this is Dr. Sweets," Gibbs said.

Warren looked at Sweets, "Doctor of what?"

Sweets responded, "Clinical Psychology, among other things."

Warren scoffed, "So, not a real doctor then. Going to try to figure me out?"

Sweets answered, "It really wouldn't be hard. We're a lot alike, bullied in school for being smarter than everyone else. I mean I started College at fourteen. All of the other cretins were still in high school. And the people who should have naturally given us respect for having a superior intellect, they felt threatened by us. They constantly tried to physically prove they were better than you or me. After all, a brute can move a rock, a brain knows how to blow it up."

Warren smiled. This Sweets guy might just get it.

"So Warren," Gibbs said, "We found something very upsetting today."

"What was that?" Warren asked. "That you're too stupid to understand my work?"

"No, it was this," Gibbs put a copy of a video camcorder tape on the table. "Do you know what's on this tape?"

Warren stopped, which tape was it? Was it close ups of girls walking around campus? He doubted that could get him in any trouble. Rather than get worked up Warren said, "Why don't you tell me?"

"What we have here is evidence of you plotting to kidnap a foreign national," Gibbs said. "Specifically the new Earl of Kent's son."

Warren looked at him blankly, "What are you talking about?"

"You don't recall, you and it sounds like two others; the other night plotting to kidnap the Earl's son?" Gibbs asked. "And while we don't know who the other two are yet, we will find them."

Warren thought, the other night, which night? It had to have been when the military assaulted Lowell house. But he hadn't plotted to kidnap anyone, except Harris. He remembered talking about kidnapping him to find out how he could teleport. "Harris isn't any Earl's son!" Warren protested.

"Actually, his name isn't Harris, his real father found him a few years ago and once they verified his paternity they updated his birth certificate with his real last name," Gibbs said. "You did know his mother was half English? Didn't you?"

"So what, we didn't do anything illegal," Warren said.

"Warren, we have you on tape plotting to kidnap the son of not just a foreign national, but one that is part of the aristocracy of England. Do you think the Government might take a dim view of that happening here?" Gibbs asked. "It makes us look bad when things like that happen in the US."

"You can't prove we were going to do anything," Warren said. "I mean seriously, we were having a gaming night, and if you played that tape; if anybody heard us talking about Harris teleporting they'd know we were playing," Warren smirked as he finished.

"Except, we know the truth," Sweets said. "I mean why do you think we're here?"

"I don't know why you're here," Warren said. "I figured what I saw was something going wrong with the film department at the school. I mean everyone knows there really aren't laser weapons in the US Military. So do you know how they did the special effects? I have to admit it was really good work. Me and the boys just got caught up in playing along with it." Warren smiled, "Ask around, most of us at the college thought the same thing. So can I go now?"

"I think you're going to be our guest overnight, Warren," Gibbs said. "Oh, don't worry, we can hold you for twenty-four hours without charging you. Someone will be along to take you to your cell for the night, we'll talk more in the morning."

Once Gibbs and the team were in the conference room again, Gibbs said, "Booth, Todd you were right. Just being around that kid, you get the feeling he needs to be put down like a rabid dog. Sweets, thoughts?"

"He's very quick on his feet," Sweets said, "I'd like to be the one to take him to his cell. I'll play the my boss is an idiot and I don't know why he won't let you go angle. It may pay off in the future."

"Do it," Gibbs said, "But take McGee with you, McGee you get in the conversation graduating from MIT. He's an engineer; he'll respect that."

"Right, Boss," McGee said. "Maybe Sweets and I can go over a few things before we take Mears to his cell for the night."

"Booth, make sure you check with Bones," Gibbs said. "See if she has anything on that container. If it is from the base I want to know what was in it, and where it is now."  
_

Warren looked up as the door opened again. Sweets was there with another man. "Sorry about this Warren," Sweets said. "But the boss is a jarhead, and you know marines aren't chosen for their brains."

"Of course," Warren sneered, "If they had any brains they would have never gone into the military. Only over testosterone laden jocks go to the military."

'I know," McGee said, "And Gibbs, well just because I graduated from MIT he gives me all the crap work, McGee get the coffee, McGee carry the gear. Seriously DiNozzo is an idiot, and I have to listen to that guy. There's no justice."

"Oh yeah," Warren said, "I met that guy. He's definitely lacking in the brains department."

"And taste," McGee said, "I mean he thinks black and white movies are better than things like Star Wars or the Star Trek movies. He ridicules the Star Trek T.V. shows so talk about poor taste. Plus he uses more hair and makeup products than any three women I know."

Warren laughed, "Yeah but one day they'll get what's coming to them."

"Preach it, Brother," Sweets said. "Look Gibbs wanted you put into a stripped down cell. Tim and I managed to make sure you won't be in the cell Gibbs wanted. Just keep it quiet, if Gibbs finds out he'll be all over us. I mean seriously, the guy never should have left the military, he belongs with the neanderthals."

Warren nodded, "Thanks, I won't forget this."

"And don't worry," McGee said, "They haven't got anything so you'll be out of here tomorrow."

Warren nodded as the two men locked him into a cell that at least had a T.V. and a decent looking bed. He had seen the other cell as they walked by and it looked like crap. This was much better. Maybe one of them might be a good choice for a new minion. 


	25. Chapter 25

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Celf, I am still trying to get everything done to format it correctly. Hopefully this chapter will be beter.

Lexum09 I have through CHapter 28 already written. So more coming.

Chapter 25

Andrew was getting worried. He had seen those men escorting Warren out of the building. And while he had removed everything that he thought was sensitive, he hadn't heard from Warren. "Warren should have been here," Andrew thought. "Are they dissecting him now? Maybe they're trying to recover the Trill."

Andrew already knew how special the Trill was; he had noticed he was getting stronger, Without trying he was already stronger than he had been. He wasn't sure if it was making him smarter, but he knew that it helped if he got too worked up.

Andrew finally decided what to do, "I've got to find someplace to hide. At least until Warren is back." Looking through the Sunnydale paper, Andrew found where a couple had been found dead just outside of their home from a barbecue accident. He packed his things into the van and drove to the house. It didn't take long to break into it. Mainly because the back door was open.

Andrew opened the garage and parked the van inside. Then he went into the house to see if there was anything to do while he waited. "I'll try to meet Warren tomorrow. But tonight I hide here."

Anya had been enjoying her vacation. She thought she should feel bad about abandoning Xander and the rest of them... But honestly, she didn't, if anything it felt like something she should have done long before. Sure Xander was a fantastic sexual partner, but he wasn't worth very much. He still lived in his parent's basement. And while he was doing well at his job, he was still one of the low-level workers.

Meanwhile, she was free to enjoy herself. Anya stretched out on the beach. She had come down to Mexico because it was cheap. There was no way she would be able to get this level of service in the States for the same amount of money.

As she headed in for the evening, she saw an older paper from the US, it was talking about how Sunnydale California was under martial law, and the area had been declared a Federal Disaster. Anya laughed, "Of course it was a disaster. They were going up against a fallen angel." Humming to herself she picked up the paper and started reading the details as she went to her room. "I wonder if the Magic Box is still there?" Anya thought.

Daniel Osborne had traveled far since leaving Sunnydale. He was currently in Tibet. The monks of the monastery had taken one look at him when he showed up over a month ago and opened the door, letting him enter.

They had taught him how to accept his wolf, that his curse was only a curse as long as he denied his nature. He was learning. Today he had controlled his change: he had changed into the wolf at noon. He no longer thought of the Wolf as something separate from himself. It was just his furry side.

This evening he was going down to the village below the monastery. While the monks were nice enough, he craved red meat or at least chicken. Reaching the village he nodded to several other tourists. There were a few who chose to live here, embracing the simpler lifestyle and getting rid of the materialist need to accumulate stuff.

He stopped at a small bar and restaurant. Sitting down, he asked what they had today. He could choose between a goat curry and a chicken curry. While it wasn't bleeding he went for the goat. As he was eating on of the expats asked him, "Aren't you from California?"

Oz nodded, "Yes."

"Did you hear the news?" The man said.

Oz asked, "News?"

"Yeah, Something happened out by LA some little town, they declared it a disaster area. Have the Federal Government maintaining control of the town?"

"What town?" Oz asked.

"I don't really remember, Sundale, Sunnyvale something like that." The man said.

"Sunnydale," Oz stated.

"Could be," the man said, "It was something like that."

Oz suddenly didn't feel quite as hungry. What had happened in Sunnydale? He couldn't even try to call. Aside from not having the cash for a call, there was no phone for over a day's hike. He quickly finished his meal and returned to the Monastery. Tomorrow he needed to start heading back to Sunnydale.

Ira and Sheila were worried, Ever since the announcement about the disaster happening in Sunnydale, they had been trying to get a hold of Willow. When they couldn't get a hold of her the first few days they blamed it on the communication problems. As the days wore on they were becoming more and more worried. Why hadn't Willow called them? Even if the landlines were down she would have had enough time to find a cell phone.

Then there were the rumors, the entire Jeffersonian Forensics group had been sent to Sunnydale to help with the aftermath of the Disaster. The same Dr. Brennan who had helped identify bodies so quickly in the after effects of a suicide attack in Israel. She was the best at finding the truth from the dead.

What had happened in Sunnydale? Both parents realized that they couldn't stand to stay away, it was time to head home and hope their daughter was still alive. When they tried to use their tickets to fly home they were informed that due to the quarantine they could only fly to LA; from there they would have to find their own way to Sunnydale.

Warren wasn't upset; he was completely pissed off. He had spent his entire night in custody. Halfway through the night the Neanderthal DiNozzo had come by and seeing him in the nicer of the two cells ordered him moved.

His current cell had a toilet that didn't work, a bed that was barely a pad over the metal cot, and the man had laughed at him as he watched him suffer. He had disappeared for a short time and came back with popcorn, DiNozzo had then alternated between eating the popcorn and throwing it at him. For entertainment he had ripped apart the Star Wars movies. Finally the buffoon had left. Warren lay back and tried to get what little sleep he could, once he was free he would show them who was **The Man**.

Hathor was not pleased. Her new first prime was serving adequately, but her new host, while possessing a superior intellect for one of the Tau'ri, was physically well below her standards for a host. Her first thought was to find a better host, and when she ordered her first prime to do so, he had worked hard to find another vessel that might have someone pleasing to her onboard.

The capture of the new vessel had been easy. The Tau'ri male on board had quickly succumbed to the Nish'Ta. It was an older male, but it had several young, and beautiful females with it. The problems had started when Hathor had tried to transfer hosts, she could not leave her current host. Hathor raged against the Tau'ri as she killed the female she had initially chosen. What had been done to her? Would she be stuck in this host forever?

Her newest slave who said his name was Miguel Escobar, looked promising. He claimed that he would be able to best serve her by taking her to his home in the place called Columbia. From her Host's knowledge Hathor realized that this male was most likely a member of what the Tau'ri called a 'Drug Cartel' and as such he would have access to weapons and men to further her goals.

Hathor was reviewing the mind of her host, she realized that her only hope of understanding what had happened to her was if she could capture Angleman. He had been the Tau'ri scientist in charge of the Goa'uld cloning project. He would be her best chance to understand what had been done to her. When she asked her slave if he knew how to find someone and bring him to her, Miguel had been overjoyed. "Yes my Goddess, I can order my men to put out a contract to kidnap this man who has offended you." Hathor smiled and ordered him to do so. Once she had the Tau'ri scientist he would fix what was damaged or he would die.

It was still early in the morning, Gibbs had called Agent Booth to his office. Booth knocked on the door, "You wanted to see me, Gibbs?"

"Take a seat," Gibbs said. "I've been looking over the interrogation of Mears. While we don't have enough on him yet, he did bring up a good point. I want you to head over to the Sunnydale Police Department. Start going through everything there. Find out if they're really as incompetent as they seem, or if it's corruption."

"OK," Booth said. "How many men am I going to get for this?"

Gibbs handed him a list, "Take any five from the list."

Looking at the list Booth saw ten names, none he recognized. But he would at least have people to help go through everything. "I don't see a computer specialist on here," Booth said. "Can I take McGee?"

"Make sure he's available if we need him on something else," Gibbs said. "Otherwise, that's fine. You'll have five plus McGee."

"I'll get right on it," Booth promised.

"Good," Gibbs said. "We still don't know where Hathor is or even if she's still in the area. Maybe you can find something that will shake loose a lead."

Jacob and Selmak had contacted the Tok'ra high council when they were informed of a large number of Symbiotes found by the Tau'ri. After Dr. Brennan's team had determined that the Initiative had been experimenting on them in order to change how they operated, Jack had made the request that the Tok'ra send someone to try and look over the work.

The end result of that request was that Kelmaa and Adriana were sent to the Tau'ri. Kelmaa had not enjoyed the trip so far. The Tau'ri vessel was too loud and shook more than she found acceptable as it flew. General Hammond had already had a file prepared for her when she arrived. It showed pictures of the Goa'uld they had found in the Initiative's labs. It also had transcripts from the recordings of the Tau'ri scientists who had been trying to modify the symbiotes.

Kelmaa found the ideas put forth by this 'Angleman' to be highly intriguing; since the Tok'ra possessed no queens of their own, they knew they were fighting a losing battle against the Goa'uld. One the one hand, If these ideas could be made to work, then it might be possible to wipe out the threat of the system lords. And on the other hand, if the cloning could be done successfully they would have a means to create more Tok'ra. Their only problem would be finding enough willing hosts.

As the Tau'ri plane started to descend, Kelmaa was looking forward to this new assignment. Once on the ground, the plane was met by members of the Tau'ri military. Kelmaa was taken to the Tau'ri base and after being assigned a dwelling, she was taken to the site where the Goa'uld had been found.

Kelmaa was escorted to a Tau'ri female; the woman looked upset at having to stop her current work, to deal with a newcomer. " **I am Kelmaa of the Tok'ra, my host is Adriana** " Kelmaa said. " **The Tau'ri requested our aid in examining the Goa'uld found here.** "

The woman looked her over. "I am Dr. Brennan," Bones said. "I am currently in charge of the scientific teams. We are reviewing all the data from the Initiative project and trying to understand what happened here. What is your area of expertise?"

" **I am an expert in biological sciences** ," Kelmaa said.

"I can see why they would send you," Brennan said. "Based on what we have found so far. It seems that the doctor in charge of these experiments was less than scientific in his methodology. He seemed to be trying to achieve his objectives through blind luck. Have you had the opportunity to read the reports we've made?"

 **Yes we have** ," Kelmaa said. "We both found it highly interesting. The possibilities this research could open up for the Tok'ra we feel would be astonishing," Adriana said. "Currently, the Tok'ra have no way to reproduce: Egeria their Mother was defeated by Ra thousands of years ago, and since she was the only queen who believed in blending, no new Tok'ra have been born since then. We do get some Goa'uld who realize there is a better way. But it is not enough to sustain our numbers. This research may provide the answers we need."

'What will you need from me?" Bones asked.

" **A place to work with access to the specimens** ," Kelmaa responded. " **We have brought our own equipment with us. Your Tau'ri science is very primitive. We felt it would be more efficient to bringing our own equipment**."

"Would you be in any danger from the Goa'uld that are currently in the lab they were created in?" Bones asked.

" **No** ," Kelmaa said. "Any symbiote without a host would be able to sense Kelmaa within me. It would avoid trying to take me over." Adriana said.

"Very well," Bones said. "In that case, I will put you in the lab that Dr. Angleman was using. It will provide you with easy access to the specimens. Are you able to sense when another symbiote is nearby?"

"Yes," Adriana said. "We can sense the presence of another symbiote, whether they are in a host or not."

"At what range are you able to sense another symbiote?" Bones asked. "We still have not found Hathor, so it may become a needed skill."

" **Our ability to sense others of our kind is limited to a few feet at best** ," Kelmaa admitted. " **If you believe you have captured Hathor, either one of the Tok'ra or a Jaffa would be able to confirm the presence of the Symbiote**."

"Thank you," Bones said. "I will make sure that information is passed on." Stopping in front of a door Bones continued, "This was Dr. Angleman's lab. Since we discovered the Goa'uld we have issued orders that none of our personnel were to enter without protective gear. Since you will not need that gear, please feel free to disregard that order."

Kelmaa and Adriana soon had their equipment set up and began examining the living specimens that the Tau'ri scientists had created.

Hodgins was frustrated. The container they had discovered in Mears lab had failed to give them any real information. Someone had cleaned it with an acid solution and destroyed any trace particles he could have hoped to find. The container was actually ordered by the college, although he couldn't see any reason for them to do so. It appeared most of them were then taken to be used by the Initiative, but they had no way to prove that Mears had not gotten one elsewhere.

Finally Hodgins decided to go ask Dr. Brennan to take another look at the lab, maybe they had missed something. Dr. Brennan was reluctant to agree but she finally allowed it. Hodgins gathered his equipment and headed up the newly installed elevator to check out Mears' lab one more time.

Warren was bored. He had been sitting in this cell for most of the day. Calling out to the guard he said, "Hey you, when are they letting me out of here?" When the guard didn't respond Warren tried again, "Look you can't just keep me locked up. I have rights!" The guard continued to ignore him. He had been ordered to ignore anything the prisoner might say; they were hoping to keep Warren unbalanced thinking that that would lead him to make a mistake.

Two more hours passed before Dinozzo appeared, "Hey freak," Tony said. "I bet you're wanting to get out of here?"

Warren growled at Tony, "It's about time. I've done nothing wrong!"

"Oh, I don't know about that," Tony said. "I mean anyone who would build themselves a sexbot is sure to have done something wrong."

"When are you letting me go?" Warren asked trying to ignore Tony.

"It's your lucky day," Tony said. "I was just coming down here to let you go. Guard," Tony called out. Once the guard came over Tony had him open the cell. "You know I really hate guys like you. You think you're better than everyone else just because of your brains. McGeek is the same way, like graduating from college is anything special. But sooner or later people like you always screw up. And when you do people like me are there to take you down."

Tony had walked Warren to the front gate of the base. Once outside the gate, he said, "Alright, you're free to go."

"What?" Warren screamed, "You're joking. You have to take me back to Sunnydale not just let me go out here."

"Nope," Tony said. "We had to let you go for now. That's it. Now Sunnydale is about five miles that away." Tony pointed down the road. "There is a payphone a couple hundred yards up the road, I guess you could try to call someone to give you a ride."

"Are the phones working again?" Warren asked.

"I don't think so," Tony said, "But maybe you'll get lucky." Tony turned around and walked back on to the base, leaving a fuming Warren behind him.

Warren walked over to the payphone, and just as he thought the line was still dead. Turning to the road, Warren started walking. As he walked, Warren started picking up speed. Soon he was running at a good pace, he noticed that it was easier than ever. It only took him twenty-eight minutes to run the five miles into Sunnydale.

Deciding that he would rather check out his lab before getting cleaned up Warren headed over to the college. Reaching the college only took another ten minutes. Walking into the engineering building Warren headed towards his lab. Opening the door to his lab, Warren was surprised to see someone inside; what's more, the cretin had been moving all of his things and appeared to be dusting everything for evidence of something.

"Hey you can't be in here," Hodgins called out as the door opened. He didn't bother to look up he was taking samples.

"Who the hell do you think you are? And what are you doing in my lab?" Warren roared. He moved towards the man. This piece of shit thought he had the right to come into his lab. How dare they do this to him. Warren picked up a hammer that he had on one of the tables.

"Look you can't be in here," Hodgins said finally looking up. He saw the man approaching him holding a hammer. "Hey back off, I'm just doing my job. If you have a problem with it take it up with Booth or Gibbs."

"So you work for those two cretins," Warren said. "Good, I'm going to enjoy this even more." Warren's eyes flared white as he stepped into Hodgins swinging the hammer. Hodgins tried to get his arm up to block the blow.

Seeing the white eyes Hodgins realized this was a Goa'uld. As the hammer struck his arm Hodgin yelled out in pain. The blow had snapped his forearm. Hodgins tried to move out of the way. Warren was faster than Hodgins. His next strike hit Hodgins collarbone. A thirty-two-ounce hammer wielded by someone with the strength of a Goa'uld can do a lot of damage. And Warren was determined to do as much damage as he could.

Hodgins felt the blow and lashed out hitting Warren in the face with his good arm. Warren's head was knocked back, His lip was bleeding, but the symbiote was already stopping the blood. Warren wasn't even really angry right now, the symbiote had taken care of that. His head was perfectly clear as he smiled. "You're going to pay for that," Warren promised. Raising the hammer again Warren brought it down on Hodgins. Again and again and again he struck. Because he wanted the man to suffer; Warren was only using the flat head of the hammer rather than the claw. He also avoided blows to the head.

Once the man had been reduced to a quivering mass of flesh, Warren spit on him. "You could tell Gibbs and Booth what happened but I don't think you'll live long enough to do that. In fact, I don't think you have longer than an hour or two tops before your injuries kill you. So while you're waiting to die, I just want you to remember that it was me Warren Mears/b who killed you." Warren was impressed, his voice did some weird reverb when he said that. It sounded really menacing.

Warren moved over to his closet and quickly cleaned himself off. He was surprised that there was relatively little blood to clean up. Most of Hodgin clothes had soaked it up. He smiled as he thought of the look on the idiot's face when they found the man. There was no way the man would ever be able to talk. The damage to his body was too extensive. Smiling Warren left his lab; time to find Andrew and then it would be fun to taunt Gibbs and Booth they would never be able to prove anything. Warren was whistling as he left his lab.

Hodgins lay on the floor, hoping that someone would come in time. He passed out while still waiting.

"Tempi," Angela said, "Did you want to go get something to eat?"

Bones looked up from her work; she was reviewing the autopsy of one of the demon cyborgs. Putting it down she glanced at the clock, "Have they brought lunch in already, Angela?"

"No," Angela said. "I thought since they have installed the elevator we would go up to the campus, I saw a sandwich place that I wanted to try close by."

"Will anyone else be coming with us?" Bones asked.

"Abby said she'd come," Angela said. "Zack wasn't really interested and I don't know where Hodgins is to ask him."

"Hodgins was going to recheck the Mears lab," Bones said. "We can stop there on the way." Grabbing her purse Bones left with Angela.

At the elevator Abby met the two of them, "Hi Bones," she called out. "So is it just going to be the three of us?"

"We're going to see if Hodgins wants to come with us," Angela said. "He's in one of the labs up top."

"I didn't know we had labs up there," Abby said. "Why does he have a lab up there if we're stuck down here?"

"It's not one of our labs," Bones said. "It belongs to Warren Mears, he's checking it for evidence."

"The Sexbot guy?" Abby asked.

"Sexbot," Angela said, "What sexbot?" Abby started telling the two women about the freaky sexbot Mears had built and how she had found his fingerprints on it. Angela was freaked out and in complete agreement with Abby about how sick that was. Bones argued the benefits of creating a partner that wouldn't demand any more time than you were willing to give it.

As the three women approached the lab Angela said, "Tempi, no matter what, there is always more to a relationship than just sex. It's the unknown that make it all worthwhile."

Opening the door to the lab, Angela called out, "Hodgins did you want to go to lunch with us?" Looking around they spotted Hodgins body on the floor. Angela screamed " _Hodgins_!"

Bones moved forward and quickly began checking Hodgins. "He's still alive, Angela," she said. "We need to get him to a hospital quickly."

"What about Ducky?" Abby said. "The base has a full hospital down there; couldn't we get him there first and then get him somewhere better?"

Bones nodded, "Angela, run and get someone with a stretcher or a gurney we need to get him to the hospital. I'm calling Booth." While they were waiting Bones started checking Hodgins and told Abby to take as many pictures as she could, using Hodgins' camera.

"I'll call Gibbs," Abby said. Both women made their calls. Angela returned before either man had arrived, she had two soldiers with her and a medical gurney.

"We're going to have to be very careful in moving him onto the gurney," Bones said. I've counted at least forty broken bones. Any one of the broken ribs could easily puncture a lung." The two men lowered the gurney as far down as it would go and being as delicate as they could lifted Hodgins onto the gurney.

Hodgins didn't even wake up as they moved him. They started wheeling him out of the building as Booth arrived. "Bones what happened?" He asked falling in beside her.

"Angela, Abby and I had stopped by the Mears lab to see if Hodgins wanted to join us for lunch. We found Hodgins on the floor almost beaten to death." Bones turned to Booth, "I don't think he's going to survive Booth. The injuries are just too severe. I don't think he has more than an hour or two left."

"Don't say that, Bones. We have aliens and future tech, one of them should be able to help him." Arriving at the base hospital, Ducky started checking over Hodgins as Bones told him what she had already found.

"I'm so sorry my dear," Ducky said, "But as I'm sure you already know there is nothing we can do for him. His injuries are too great. The most I could do is make sure he's not in any pain."

"What about the aliens? Can they do anything?" Booth asked. "I mean Joyce can heal, right? Can we get her here?"

Gibbs arrived in time to hear the question, "They're all in LA right now. DiNozzo, try calling them, see if we can get one of them here. They may be able to help."

"On it, boss," Tony started to call the numbers they had for any of the Furlings. After several minutes he said, "Either they don't have their phones on them or their not picking up. I'm sorry boss."

"What about any of the other Aliens, one of them has to be around who can help," Booth said.

"The Jaffa wouldn't be able to do much, the Asgard are all on their ship, and we don't have a way to contact them from here," Gibbs replied. "I don't know where the Tok'ra are but I'll have people start looking for them."

"Wait we have one of the Tok'ra here," Bones said. "She's in Dr. Angleman's lab."

"Well, come on," Booth said, "Let's go get her."

They two of them quickly ran to get Kelmaa. After explaining the situation Kelmaa said, " **If we had a Kara Kesh we might be able to help your friend. But without one there is nothing we could do. It sounds as though he has extensive injuries. A symbiote might be able to heal him but we could not get another Tok'ra here in time and we do not take unwilling hosts. Since he is unable to consent to be a host we would not want to violate him by using him as a host**."

"What do you mean you don't have any symbiotes," Booth said looking around the lab. "What are all of these?"

" **You do not understand** ," Kelmaa said, " **According to the records these were created from the prim'ta of Hathor, they are Goa'uld. If we were to place one within your friend he would become a prisoner within his own body**."

"Could you remove the symbiote after it had healed him?" Bones asked.

" **Not here** ," Kelmaa replied. " **At the Tok'ra's base, we could remove the Goa'uld. But it would require taking your friend there once he recovered. And there is no guarantee that your friend would survive the process**."

"Well it's a better shot than what he has now," Booth said. "So grab one of these snakes and let's see if it can save Hodgins."

"Are you sure?" Adriana asked. "This may cause severe damage to your friend's mind. Sharing the mind of a Goa'uld is not pleasant. Even if the symbiote saves him he may end up hating you for doing this."

"Better that he's alive to hate us, then dead," Bones said. "Please get a symbiote. It's his only chance for survival."

" **Very well, we will do as you wish. And hope that your friend is able to be recovered** ," Kelmaa said. Grabbing one of the containers, Kelmaa harvested one of the mature goa'uld from the breeding tank. " **Take me to him**."

Quickly they returned to the infirmary. Kelmaa approached Hodgins and took out the symbiote. Moving towards Hodgins, Kelmaa said, " **Open his mouth, it is better if the symbiote enters through the mouth**." Bones moved forward and opened Hodgins mouth; Kelmaa placed the head of the symbiote in Hodgins mouth and released his hold on it. The symbiote slithered into Hodgins quickly disappearing from view.

"How long will it take before we know if this will work?" Gibbs asked.

" **If he does not expire in the next few hours** ," Kelmaa said. " **Then I believe the implantation will have been successful**." Adriana then said, "I would recommend that we try and set as many of his broken bones in place as possible, this will aid the symbiote in healing him."

Ducky and Bones went to work trying to position Hodgins bones without cutting him open.

Gibbs had pulled Booth out of the room, "What do we know about how this happened?" Booth related the information they had. Gibbs quickly said, "Find Mears, we released him earlier and he would be our best suspect."

"Do you really think Mears would have had the strength to do whatever was done to Hodgins?" Booth asked.

"After everything we've learned while here," Gibbs paused, "I'm not ruling it out. Get a team and go find him."

"Boss," Tony said, "When I let him go this morning I told him to walk back to town. From here to the base would have taken him at least an hour, probably more. I'm not sure he could have done this."

"If he didn't he probably knows who did," Gibbs said. "Either way, find him and bring him in!"

Gibbs turned to the soldiers assigned to guard the base, "I want a detail guarding Hodgins. If he wakes up it'll probably be the Goa'uld in charge, ask the Jaffa to assign some of their people to help guard him and keep him here."

Zack, having finally heard what had happened to Hodgins, arrived. Going into the room he saw Angela. "Does anyone know what happened to him? Who did this?"

"No sweetie," Angela said. "We're not even sure if he's going to live." Angela started to cry, Zack stood there unsure what to do. Abby, seeing Angela crying was the one to come over and comfort her.

Warren had just finished burning his clothes in the dorm incinerator. Only in Sunnydale did the College dorms have a convenient incinerator. He opened the door to the basement and heard something that stopped him from opening it all the way. A group of soldiers were running up the stairs, and he thought he saw Booth with them. Closing the door, Warren went back downstairs. " _Shit how did they know_?" he thought. " _I can't go back up there_." looking around the basement Warren smiled. This was Sunnydale, which meant tunnels. And while they weren't the safest way to travel it was better than letting the soldier grab him. Whistling, Warren slipped into the campus tunnels and walked away, while Booth was breaking down his dorm room door.

Reaching Mears' room Booth knocked on the door, "Warren Mears," he called out, "This is the FBI open the door!" After a minute with no answer, he drew his sidearm and motioned one of the soldiers to kick the door in. Rushing inside it was quickly evident that Mears wasn't there. McGee pointed to a wet towel on the bed.

"It's still damp," McGee said. "He can't have gotten far."

"Split up," Booth said, "Stay in teams of two. I want him found. McGee, you're with me."

Searching the entire building yielded nothing. Calling into Gibbs, Booth updated him about the situation. Hanging up the phone Booth looked down in frustration. "Alright, we're going to get vehicles and start driving around, at this point it might be the only way we can find him."

"What about the locals?" McGee asked.

"We'll try to use them but from what I've seen so far they'll be useless," Booth answered. Together the two men left the building, hoping they could find Warren Mears.

By the time Gibbs finally found Colonel O'Neill it was early evening. On hearing what had happened Jack was very upset. They had had their cell phones with them but had never received any calls. He ordered Carter, "Find out why we were not available. There shouldn't have been anything stopping us from receiving those calls."

Turning to Gibbs, Jack said, "Is Hodgins still alive?"

"For now," Gibbs replied. "It was touch and go for a while but implanting the Goa'uld seems to be working."

"Well we need to head over to the Summers house," Jack said. "Joyce may be able to help with the healing. Then we just have to get that thing out of him. You're driving," Jack said as he started calling Joyce. Jack explained the situation to Joyce while they were driving to the Summers house. She and Buffy were waiting for them when they arrived.

Gibbs drove them all to the Initiative. Reaching the infirmary Gibbs saw almost the entire Jeffersonian team was still there sitting and waiting for any change in Hodgins' state. As they entered Bones looked up, "Agent Gibbs, Col. O'Neill, Mrs. Summers, Why are you here?"

"I asked Joyce to try and use her abilities to heal Hodgins," Jack explained.

Bones turned to Joyce, "Thank you," Bones said.

Hodgins was lying in a bed, still unconscious, Joyce approached him. Placing her hands on his chest she began channeling her healing ability. Hodgins started to glow, The symbiote had already been working to repair the internal organs that had been damaged in the attack. Joyce supercharged the healing. Bones were healed in less than a minute. Hodgins breathing became steadier and his color improved dramatically.

Joyce stepped back from the man, as his eyes opened. "Where am I," Hodgins asked.

"Guards," Jack called out. Two guards and two Jaffa came into the room. "Watch him," Jack ordered. "Now that he's awake we'll have to get the Goa'uld out of him."

"What," Hodgins cried out, "You put one of those things in me?"

"It was the only way to save your life," Bones said. "The damage was too extensive if we hadn't done that you would have died hours ago. Now we will have the Tok'ra remove it."

Kelmaa came up beside Hodgins, "I am Kelmaa of the Tok'ra. You will tell us your name/b," she said.

"Holy Shit," Hodgins said, "Your eyes are glowing just like the guy that attacked me! You're a Goa'uld!"

" **We are Tok'ra, the Goa'uld only seek to take hosts by force** ," Kelmaa said. " **Tok'ra chose the path of blending. You will tell us your name, you have not yet committed any crimes but if you forcibly take a host we will destroy you**."

"Jack Hodgins," Hodgins said, "My name is Jack Hodgins."

" **We already know your host's name** ," Kelmaa said. " **How are you called among the Goa'uld**?"

"Ah look," Hodgins said, "There's only one voice in my head, so I don't know what else to tell you. But I'm me, not some Goa'uld."

" **Interesting** ," Kelmaa said, " **We have ways for determining the truth. If you are lying it will go poorly for you**."

"You think he's telling the truth?" Jack asked.

"We don't know," Adriana said, "However, there are certain drugs that can put the symbiote to sleep for a short time. With access to the right chemicals, I can have some ready by morning. We can then determine if what he has said is true."

"Why are you willing to believe him?" Gibbs asked.

'The notes left by Dr. Angleman," Adriana began, "He indicated he was attempting to destroy the Goa'ulds racial memory. If he was successful it may be that while the symbiote is operating as it should inside a host, it also may have lost the ability to think for itself. It will be interesting to learn if this is the case. If it can not learn, it would only be able to boost the health of the host. If it is capable of learning it may be able to eventually grow into a Tok'ra."

"Alright," Jack said. "Go make your drug. How long will it take?"

" **If all of the chemicals are available, it will take six earth hours** ," Kelmaa said.

Gibbs looked at Jack, "Alright to see if he can tell us who attacked him?"

Jack nodded, "Give it a shot, if possible it may speed up finding his attacker."

Gibbs nodded to Booth, "Hodgins," Booth said. "Can you tell us who attacked you? What did he look like? Did he say anything to you?"

Hodgins nodded, "He said his name was Warren Mears, but he was a Goa'uld. He did the whole eyes glowing thing and the voice was like Kelmaa did. Except when he did he said his name was Warren Mears and he boasted that I would never be able to tell Gibbs or Booth about what happened." Hodgins looked around, "Can I have something to drink?"

Angela came over with a cup of water, handing it to him she asked, "Are you really Hodgins?"

"As far as I can tell," Hodgins replied.

"You can't believe him," Jack said. "Once the snake takes over, they have access to everything the host knew, they can act exactly like the original."

"So until Kelmaa gets back you're staying here under guard," Gibbs said. "If she can confirm that you're you then we'll go from there."

Joyce called Xander to come get her, while Buffy volunteered to stay the night. The entire Jeffersonian team and Abby were staying as well.

Andrew was worried. He had hidden in the house most of the day. The one time he had gone out, he had seen soldiers rushing around the Sunnydale College campus. He was eventually able to find out they were hunting for Warren. But Warren,like the Jedi Master he was, had evaded the forces of the Empire. The problem was Andrew had no idea on how to find him.

"Think Padawan," Andrew said, "How would Luke find Yoda?" Then it hit him, "Luke didn't find Yoda. Yoda found Luke, I just have to drive around and Warren will find me." Andrew grabbed the keys to the van and the heat ray. Going out to the garage he opened it up and drove away.

Andrew drove for three hours before he gave up and returned to the house. Closing the garage again he went inside and hoped that tomorrow would be better.

Warren was unhappy. The day had started off shitty: being held in that cell, then walking back to town. Now he knew soldier were hunting for him. The only bright spot of the day had been beating that guy to death. As he remembered the sound and feel of the hammer striking him over and over again. Warren started laughing. Right now everything might suck, he was stuck in a storage unit, but soon the heat would die down and everything would go back to normal.

The storage unit was not the worse place he could be. It was dusty, but it had a door that he could lock and an old couch to sleep on. A sink in the back provided water to drink. It would do until morning came. Once it was daylight Warren planned to get some food and find a better place to hideout in.

It was shortly before dawn when Kelmaa and Adriana returned. Jack had left earlier; Gibbs had stayed to make sure everything was alright. Waking everyone up, Kelmaa said, " **It is ready, this chemical compound will force the symbiote to sleep for roughly thirty of your minutes; during that time the host will be in complete control of itself**."

Hodgins looked up and said, "Hit me with it."

Kelmaa nodded and handed a glass to him, " **It is easier if you drink it. The other option is not as pleasant**."

"What's the other option?" Abby asked.

" **It can also be administered anally** ," Kelmaa said. " **I am told that it is very uncomfortable when that is done**."

"I'll drink," Hodgins hastily said. "I definitely do not want to be part of anything anal; administered by an alien." Abby, Booth, Angela and McGee all laughed at that. Even Gibbs cracked a small smile. Once Hodgins put the drink down he said, "OK maybe I was wrong, that is the worst tasting thing I have ever had. How long before it takes effect?"

"It will only be a few minutes," Adriana said. "And I understand that when administered anally the side effects are much worse, so be glad you chose to drink."

"What side effects?" Bones asked.

"Explosive voiding of the bowels," Adriana replied.

"Well, I'm glad I passed on that then," Hodgins said. After fifteen minutes Kelmaa began questioning Hodgins again.

" **Are you able to sense the Goa'uld within you**?" Kelmaa asked.

"Nope. As far as I can tell I'm all alone," Hodgins replied.

" **The symbiote did not try to suppress your mind while it was awake**?" Kelmaa continued.

"Again, I have to say no," Hodgins replied. "The only voice I'm hearing in my head is my own."

" **Interesting** ," Kelmaa said. " **It appears the Tau'ri scientist was able to achieve his goal. The symbiote seems to have no genetic memory. We will need to run some additional tests to make certain the Goa'uld does not try to take over. But as for now, it appears you, Jack Hodgins, are in control of the body**."

"So when are we going to get this thing out of me?" Hodgins asked.

"In order to extract the symbiote you would have to go to a Tok'ra base," Adriana said. "But you may want to consider keeping the symbiote. The benefits of blending are many. I would like the opportunity to discuss it with you. If for no other reason than if the symbiote is learning from you then by keeping it, you may be able to help it grow into a Tok'ra."

"Ah," Hodgins said. "Can I think about that?"

Adriana nodded, "You should rest. Even with the healing done by the Furlings your body must be very tired. We will talk more at a later time."

Spike didn't know how long he had been fighting. Dru had told him it would be three days, But it felt like much longer. Either that or time in the trials was different from time spent outside. Through every fight Spike concentrated on Drusilla; he knew once this was over she would be there for him. He might be love's bitch but it didn't change anything. He, Spike loved Drusilla.

Spike rested from his last fight. He had faced the demon with spikes, and the invisible demon. "What were the other ones Dru warned me about?" Spike was having problems remembering. Everything had gotten very blurry since he ate the demon that looked like a cross between a chaos demon and a giant frog. It had the antlers but less slime. Although the slime was harder to get off.

A voice called out, "Will you continue? You have come far, you may leave if you wish."

"Not Bloody likely, I will win, now let's do this," Spike said. It might have helped that he knew he would win. Drusilla was never wrong when she made a prophecy. "Come on already, who's next?"

The speaker was worried. The demon trials had been created by the Wolf, The Ram, and the Hart. Willing, even eager sacrifices held immense power. Even when almost no one ever won. There were always demons who were convinced they would beat the odds. In thousands of years, there had been less that five winners. And each of them had lost once they won. But this vampire was doing better than it should have. It had defeated everything it had come against. It had even drained the corpses of its opponents. Who knew what aspects it may have gained?

"Very well," The Voice said. "BURN"

Drusilla smiled as she drank her tea. Sitting around her were the corpses of three demons. Each had tried to have their way with her. Across from Drusilla sat Miss Edith. Looking at her doll, Drusilla asked, "Why are you laughing Ms. Edith? Have you been a naughty girl?" Drusilla sat listening to something only she could hear. A wind started blowing, the blindfold across Ms. Edith's eyes came loose. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE, Ms. Edith?" Screamed Drusilla. "No, No, NO it was supposed to be perfect. How did this happen? The Bard hasn't sung, I saw he wouldn't." Throwing her teacup to the ground. Drusilla started shaking Ms. Edith. "What did you do? What did you do Ms. Edith?" Drusilla tore one of the arms from Ms. Edith. Drusilla fell to the ground, "It's not fair that you won't scream Ms. Edith. If you were my real friend you would scream."

Drusilla looked up, "Oh the stars their singing, but the song it's changed! The Bard changed the song!" Drusilla was pouting now. "I should have had Spike shut his mouth! Nasty Bard's telling tales. He speaks and everyone listens, he laughs and everyone cries. He watches and everyone dies!" Drusilla started crying, "Why, why is he stealing the stars, I don't want to have a little sister." Drusilla stomped her foot. "I shan't, I shan't allow it." Throwing Ms. Edith to the ground Drusilla ran toward the Cave entrance. Drusilla was running as fast as she could when she hit the entrance. A light flared around it and Drusilla fell to the ground. "NO, I must stop him, My Spike will tell it wrong, all wrong, and one becomes two... where one was to have two...Now two will have four. It's no Fair, this was my story, why would the Bard take my story?" Drusilla picked herself off the ground and picked up Ms. Edith. "Why? Tell me true Ms. Edith, does the Bard hate me so?"

At the word Burn, the chamber Spike was in began to glow. The fire appeared on the floor. Lines of fire ran towards Spike. Spike Jumped to the left to avoid the flames, "Bloody Hell," Spike called out, "What are you playing at?" Spike could see the flames but nothing that could be called his opponent. Spike continued to jump around the room; the fires starting and traveling towards him. Never more than two lines of fire, and the origin point shifted around.

After five minutes of this Spike was getting pissed. It was easy enough to jump out of the way, but he could tell the room was getting hotter and hotter. He was actually sweating, and vampires don't sweat. The fires moved, but the lines were alway about three feet apart.

Spike smiled, Three feet apart and always moving. The sound of the flames meant he couldn't listen for an opponent. But that didn't mean it wasn't there. Spike started changing how he jumped instead of jumping away from the flames he tried moving towards the origin point.

It took almost another five minutes to get into what Spike hoped was the right place. The fires started less than two feet from him, almost at the wall of the cave. Spike smiled and jumped, Spike yelled in triumph as he felt something connect under him. "Got you now you Bastard!" Spike crowed as he started trying to hit what was under him.

The flames on the floor died out as a creature that looked like a red scaled man flickered into sight beneath him. It smiled, it's mouth filled with sharp teeth. As Spike hit it again, it's body began to burn. Spike's hand smoked for a minute but the flames couldn't catch. The thing threw Spike off of it. "Playtime's over," It hissed at him. "Now you burn!" The fire surrounding the creature burned from a dull orange to a white blue."The air started to spark. Spike was in a panic, " _I'm going to Die_ " he thought. As Spike tried to keep away from the creature it laughed. It took another full minute for Spike to realize he wasn't burning. Smoking yes, as if he had run through sunlight covered with a blanket, but he wasn't bursting into flames.

"Oi, Salamander man," Spike called out, as he started moving towards the creature. "I think we need to finish this!" The newly named Salamander man didn't know what was wrong; this was a vampire, it should burn. Not stand there smoking.

"Why won't you burn?" Salamander man asked. Spike just smiled and moved closer. Salamander man tried to back up and out of Spike's way. But the Master vampire was both quicker and stronger than it was.

"I'm going to enjoy this," Spike said with a smile as he grabbed the burning creature. It tried to throw more fire out. Spike laughed as the flames warmed him, "Dru was right, I'm going to win!" Spike recalled what else Drusilla had said, "You made me sweat Salamander Man," He said as he broke one of its arms. "Do you know I haven't felt that in over a hundred years?" Spike threw his opponent at the wall. "Do you have any idea how disgusting it feels?" Spike punctuated his question by stomping on what would be the creatures tibia. "Oi," Spike commanded, "Look at me when I'm killing you!" Spike picked the Salamander man up, he smiled and he said, "Never ate one of whatever you are before." The Salamander man started to protest, "But Dru, said it was important that I eat every chance I got, so let's see what you taste like." Spike bit through the scales on the thing's neck. They were soft like a snake's, as the blood started filling him it burned. Spike felt a fire inside of him as the blood worked into his body. Dropping the limp, dead Salamander man at his feet, Spike smiled, "Now that was a right good bite. Never knew something could taste like you."

Spike would have shit himself with what happened next. If he could have that is, but another benefit of being a vampire, since you didn't eat solid food, you never had to shit. Spikes body burst into flames. "Ahahah," Spike screamed. He could feel the heat, and Dru's letter it was starting to burn. Spike tried putting it out, but it is very hard to put out a fire when you're on fire.

Almost half the letter was burned by the time both Spike and the fire stopped burning. The voice called out again, "You have passed all the challenges, what is your wish?"

"Just one bloody minute," A frustrated and naked Spike said.

"State your desire," The voice said again.

Restore the see (Unreadable burned out area. Or URB) the powers of Clotho, (URB), and Atropos

Return the portion of life, that is due an (URB)

Tie Achilles and Hercules (URB) forever to protect (URB).

(URB) services always follows the seers call.

Their (URB) protected by the (URB) hands

Oh (URB) Harmony gets to be a unicorn.

"State your wish," The voice demanded again. Spike was trying to figure out what was supposed to be here. So many holes in the letter. How had Dru not seen this happening?

"State your wish or forfeit your desires." The voice demanded.

"Right OK," Spike read the pieces, "Ah, Restore the seers powers of Clotho and Atropos. Return the portion of life that is an tie Achilles and Hercules forever to protect, services alway follows the seers call. They're protected by the hands."

"This is your wish," The voice asked.

Looking at the Scraps of Paper Spike grabbed one that had dropped, "Oh and...Harmony gets to be a unicorn?"

"Wish granted," the voice said.

In the Hell dimension ruled by the Wolf, the Ram and the Hart, the three demonic Gods felt the pull as the wish was granted. Power was yanked from them, more power than they could safely lose. The Hart fell to the ground. It knew something had just gone horribly wrong. The Wolf was brought to its knees. "Who has done this?" Wolf cried out. Looking over it saw the Ram. Ram was leaning to the side trying to stay upright. Seeing the Hart also on the ground the Wolf yelled, "You have betrayed us," The Wolf sprang at the Ram. Wolf's jaws closed on the Rams throat, tearing through the muscle and skin. The Wolf sought to bring the Ram to a quick end. His claws tore through the belly of the shocked Demonic God. The Wolf howled as it drank the Ram's blood. Power was flowing back into him. The Ram fell to the ground as the Wolf released its throat. The Wolf smiled, his teeth stained with the blood of the Ram. Burying his muzzle into the Ram's chest, the Wolf ate the Ram's heart. The Wolf raised his head and howled, causing the demonic legions that served the Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart to tremble. The Wolf looked over at the fallen Hart, it smiled again. It began stalking towards the Hart.

Seeing the Wolf eat the Ram, the Hart knew it would be next. Quickly it gathered what power it could, and tried to escape. The Hart disappeared as it fled the Wolf. The Wolf smiled. After eating the Ram it was more powerful than before. For eons the three had kept each other in check. All knew if one attacked the other the third would be in a position of strength to finish off the victor. But now, now it was strong and the Hart had fled. Soon it would be the only Ruler, the Wolf the Ram and the Hart were no more, now it was the time of the Wolf.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story. Any song lyrics posted belong to the writers of those songs.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************  
Chapter 26

The night shift in the Initiative base was thankfully so far boring. Having ten men in two small rooms was not the best assignment. But at least the brass didn't care if some of the men slept during the shift, as long as they watched the screens and didn't open the sealed doors. By this time they had cameras in place everywhere. Even the _Secret_ parts of the secret military base.

There were three cameras watching the area where the Sunnydale cave system intersected the base, since that was the most likely way that trouble would come from. One of the guards watching the screens noticed the problem first. The mud right in front of the caves was starting to bubble.

Calling to the others he said, "Check this out, we've got something happening." Two of the others came over to look. Watching the screen, they saw the mud bubbling and something was forming, A thing? The mud would bubble and start to form bones then collapse on itself; each cycle was showing more detail. At first, it looked almost like a skeletal horse, then it had muscles and ligaments, then blood. Finally, they saw a thing break free. It looked like a horse, but with a two-foot long horn on its head. "Ah, Is that a Unicorn?" One of the watching men asked. The others slowly nodded. It certainly looked like one.

"I thought Unicorns were white?" Asked another of the guards.

By now several of the other guards were up. One of the only black men on the night guard rotation responded, "What, you have a problem with a Black Unicorn?" The Unicorn the screen was Black with a silver horn. "Maybe they were always black," he continued, "White people just didn't want to admit that the symbol for purity was actually black!"

Looking at his squadmate for a full minute while they tried to figure out a way to respond that didn't make them sound like assholes, Jones finally cracked, "Shit I'm just screwing with you. But still, makes sense something that beautiful should be black!" This got a laugh from everyone.

"Jones, if black is beautiful?" one of the men said, "What the hell is your excuse?" As they continued to watch the screen they could see the Unicorn running through the base.

"That thing seem lost to you?" someone asked.

"Yeah, it's gone down that same corridor at least three times," Jones said. "Think we need to call the Base?"

"Rules said only call if they need to scramble a team to get over here," Thompson the Corporal in charge answered. "We just need to inform them when they are getting ready to bring in the scientists in the morning. Until then keep watching that thing."

***********************************************************************************************************************************************

Harmony was lost. She didn't know where she was or how she had gotten there, and really had only a few memories that were going through her mind. She remembered getting bitten at graduation and then dying. And wherever she had been was like totally boring. She was also getting glimpses of things that happened after she died. "Eww, gross," Harmony said. "I was a vampire? that sucked."

Harmony kept running around this place looking for a way out, but it just had these stupid corridors. And they all looked the same. It took almost an hour before she realized she was a horse. "Like what the Fuck?" Harmony said. "I'm a horse? How did this happen?" Thinking of Buffy, Harris, and Rosenberg "I bet those freaks are behind this!" Running into an area that was wide open Harmony stopped in front of her was a large polished wall, and staring at her was a Unicorn. It was black with a silver horn and white mane, its tail was white as well, it was so pretty. When Harmony stopped she saw it looking at her. "Here pretty Unicorn," Harmony said. The unicorn didn't move, so Harmony decided that she would try and get closer. "Good Unicorn," Harmony tried to be as nice as she could. Slowly the unicorn was moving, it was coming towards her.

She saw it was getting closer and closer. She went to reach out to it and realized she was a horse damn it! She moved her face to touch the Unicorn and felt the cold reflective steel of the wall as her nose touched the Unicorn's nose. "Ah," Harmony yelled at the cool steel on her nose."What happened to the Unicorn?" Slowly Harmony's brain started processing the facts. She was looking at a Unicorn. She could only see the Unicorn in a mirror. When her nose touched the Unicorn's she touched the mirror. "I'm a UNICORN," Harmony yelled. "Yes, I'm a Unicorn!" She started jumping around. As she was jumping more memories hit her. Drusilla coming to Sunnydale, the spankings, the caresses, finding Spike and then the demon killing her. A tear fell from Harmony's eye, Drusilla had really cared for her. No one had ever seemed to take so much interest in her before. Falling to her knees the Unicorn started crying, "I want my Auntie," over and over as she sobbed on the floor. After almost an hour of crying, Harmony fell asleep.

***********************************************************************************************************************************************  
Gibbs hated meetings, they rarely had a useful purpose. However, since he was now one of the bosses he had to have meetings to learn what was going on. Pulling everyone together he started asking the status of various projects.

"Booth," Gibbs said, "What do we have on the Sunnydale PD?"

"We only had a few hours to work with yesterday," Booth said. "But just based on the logged calls versus the response times. It doesn't look good. Basically, if a call came in at night they wouldn't even try to send someone until morning. I had McGee pull a records search and the single greatest cause of death in the past two decades was 'Accidental death by Barbecue Fork' this was followed by 'Animal Attacks' and assaults by 'Gangs on PCP'. Most of the missing person reports we found were summarily closed with a generic, 'Witness said individual moved'. They don't even bother to list a witness's name. The evidence strongly points to the fact that these cops knew what was going on but were looking the other way."

"Keep digging," Gibbs said. "Find out if any of them are good cops, and see if we can get anything to put the bad ones in jail. Otherwise, we may just have to be satisfied with firing them. What about Mears, any sign of him?"

"Nothing so far," Booth admitted. "The team from the Jeffersonian is tearing through his records once they get back to the base in the evenings. But most of his computer software has been heavily encrypted. It's going to take a while to crack it."

"See if you can get O'Neill to pass that on to military intelligence," Gibbs said. "They should have servers that can crack it faster."

After the old business was finished Gibbs turned to Dinozzo. "We need to find out what the hell happened, why everyone who was in LA was cut off from us. The towers are back up, we should have been able to contact O'Neill or any of the others. I want you and Todd to head to LA; check with the British Embassy. See if they have anything that might explain the problem."

"Got it, Boss," Tony said.

Andrew was getting desperate. It had been four days since he had last seen Warren. He had tried driving around but Warren had not contacted him. And last night a vampire had tried to get into the house. Luckily he had seen Warren working his heat ray and he had dusted the vampire with it. Warren had told him to get everything and hide, and he had done that. But now after so many days, he was also running out of cash. But still, he needed Warren; he was running out of ideas on what he should do. "Maybe I should just leave everything here and try to go home," Andrew thought. "I mean that way Warren will have to check for me there, right?" _"But what if Warren never comes back_ Andrew heard himself think. "Of course, Warren's coming back," Andrew insisted. "He's the Jedi Master, there is no one as strong or as brave, or as smart, as Warren. I'm really lucky he likes me so much." _Maybe it's time for me to become the Master_ Andrew heard himself say. _After all, with Warren gone, I am now in charge, he left me everything. I should chart my own course to greatness!_ "What am I saying," Andrew argued. "I can't abandon Warren, he's my best friend." _Jono used to be my best friend. But look at him now, he left Warren and I bet he's not hiding out, waiting for Vampires to come and try and eat him._ "What's going on," Andrew suspiciously asked. "Who is this? I know it's not me because I would never betray Warren! I'm a Jedi!" _No I'm not,_ the voice said. A Jedi doesn't crave power. A Jedi doesn't want to make everyone who ever picked on him pay. A Jedi is weak. I'm not weak, I have real power now. I can make them all recognize me and bow down to me.

Images started going through Andrew's mind. Making the jocks beg for his forgiveness. Crushing Tucker for all the times he had beaten Andrew up. Laughing at those weak fools. It felt so good, "I'm not a Jedi," Andrew whispered, " **I'm a Sith** " Andrew was surprised as his voice altered when he made the connection. It seemed to be more menacing. At first, he was shocked, but as he thought about it, he was convinced, " **I am a Sith! And now I should be the Master, not Warren!** " Andrew looked up at a mirror on the wall and saw his eyes glowing white. It all fit: he didn't want to be a Jedi. Jedi were weak, but everyone bowed down to the Emperor and Darth Vader. He could see his own eyes shining with power, " **From now on I will be the Master. I will decide who is worthy and everyone will bow to me**." Andrew felt both parts of him connect in agreement. He was Sith, not some weak minded fool. Andrew laughed quietly as he began to plan his next move.

Spike slowly regained consciousness. The last thing he remembered was the demon saying _Wish Granted_ Now Spike felt different; something was off. His lungs hurt. He picked himself up carefully. The floor of the cave was littered with debris. As he moved Spike caused dust to rain down on him. The dust in the air made him cough. "What the bloody hell?" Spike cried out. Feeling his chest he could feel something warm and his heart was beating. "What did you do to me, Dru?" Spike said. Looking around Spike could see the entrance to the cave. It was partially blocked off by a cave-in. Still, it looked to be the only way out. Moving towards the rocks Spike started to try and shift the rocks out of the way. Picking up the largest rock from the top that he thought he could handle, Spike was amazed. The thing was light as a feather. He started moving the rocks, putting them behind him and to the side. It took over an hour before Spike noticed his next shock. He hadn't been paying attention because moving rocks was monotonous, at best. But Sunlight was coming in, and he had been working in the sun. He wasn't burning anymore. Spike knew he wasn't a vampire anymore, he still felt his love of fighting, his greater love for Drusilla, but he didn't have the need to kill, that was gone. And he couldn't really say he missed that, not that he had any issues with killing someone. But he no longer had the overwhelming need to kill.

It took almost another hour to move enough rocks to clear his way. Outside he saw the sun was shining, and standing there waiting for him, the sun glowing around her, was his princess, his Drusilla. Crawling through the narrow passageway he had created, Spike emerged into the light and walked up to Drusilla. Drusilla stood rock still. He could tell she was breathing but her eyes were unfocused. "Dru," Spike began. "Luv, it's me, Spike."

Drusilla snarled and slapped Spike. "You did it wrong. I told my Spike to only read what the letter said. But you did it wrong and now the stars are laughing. And Ms. Edith took up half my head. She left her dolly and made me share and it's all Spikes fault!" Spike was still reeling from Drusilla slapping him. It hadn't hurt at all, but the fact that she had slapped him started to get him upset. Suddenly Drusilla stopped, her face lost its anger, her hand reached for him and caressed his cheek. "William, I am sorry for what was done to you." Tears started to fall from Drusilla's eyes. "The demon was too strong, I gave into despair and you paid for my sins. But I can at least give you back a part of yourself." Drusilla looked at Spike holding his face between her hands. "William Pratt, I name you." A wind started to pick up swirling around the two of them. "William Pratt, I call you to service." The sunlight seemed to double in its intensity. "William Pratt, I bind you to my service." The sunlight became too bright to bear, it focused into a single beam that struck Spike on his chest. Spike screamed and fell to his knees, He could feel it, the soul of William Pratt was fighting the demon Spike. The battle was raging inside the body, the demon determined to win at any cost. He felt Drusilla place her hand on his forehead, "William Pratt, you are my Hercules." A new strength filled the soul of William Pratt. Cuts that it had felt from the demon disappeared. Suddenly he knew the demon Spike would die. He, William Pratt would live again. With a yell William attacked, the demon could not resist, the power Drusilla had given the soul, it was too much. Spike knew that to lose here was death. He looked for any way out. Finally as he was broken, Spike saw one way to survive. As William Pratt reached down to hit him again, Spike gave himself to Pratt. All that he was, all that he had done. He pushed it into the Soul of William Pratt. Spike laughed as the demon died; he would live on inside of William Pratt.

Drusilla's face changed again, "Ms. Edith didn't think that would happen." She laughed, "She thought sweet William would kill my Spike. Now two have become one. And never shall they part." Spike cried out as he fell to the ground; darkness took him as the Soul of William Pratt absorbed everything that had been the Vampire William the Bloody. All of his memories and the glory he felt in killing and fighting. All of these things were grafted into the Soul of the poet William Pratt. Never again would William Pratt be someone to sit down and meekly take anything.

Inside of Drusilla a detente had occurred. The crazy seer that was the Demon Drusilla was now forced to live with the original soul that had been trapped watching the vampire in her body for the last one-hundred and forty years. Drusilla had always seen the soul, she called her Ms. Edith. The vampiress had mocked the inability of Ms. Edith to truly do anything. But now the original soul was back, locked in a stalemate with the demon. "You can't make me go away like you did with my Spike," Drusilla taunted. "I shall stay and play, and we shall have tea parties together."

"I can stop you," Ms. Edith said. "I won't let you do what Spike did. But you won't be able to harm any innocents. Not anymore." Drusilla had been driven insane by Angelus. However, after so long, being forced to watch him and the others, eventually her Soul had healed. Enough that she could nudge and divert the demon that had taken her body and name. Addressing the demon, Drusilla smiled, "I am now Atropos, and I will never yield." The demon screamed as it tried to overcome the soul, but Drusilla smiled. "One day you will be gone; until then you will be forced to watch."

"You can't get rid of me," The demonic Drusilla said. "I'm here forever, and when you let your guard down, then I will come out to play. I will play with them all, they will be mine, mine to love, mine to crush. Mine, mine, mine, mine" The demon kept repeating the mantra as Drusilla watched.

Drusilla sighed, she knew the demon spoke the truth. She couldn't destroy it. It had seen what Spike had done to William and if she tried she would suffer the same fate: the two of them would become one being. "Not today they're not," Drusilla told her demonic half. "Today they are mine, and I am keeping what's mine." She shut the demon into a cage in her mind, locking it into an image of the doll Ms. Edith. "You loved seeing me as a helpless doll, now it's your turn demon," the restored Seer said.

Looking down in the real world Drusilla stroked Williams check, "You promised to be with me forever William, now you will be." A tear fell from her eye. "I'm sorry I wasn't strong enough to stop her. I hope you'll forgive me." Drusilla sat beside Spike and waited for him to wake up.

Cordelia felt herself waking up. She had spent the night having the strangest dreams. It felt like everyone she knew, she saw their lives from the beginning to the end, or at least until Xander. Whenever he came into her dreams, he would stop the play of images. Where a moment before she could see everything a person would be or do, as soon as he touched them they solidified, the possibilities of their lives. The images that made up the person stopped. Suddenly they just were, and she couldn't see anything about them.

Opening her eyes Cordelia stretched, ""What the hell is wrong with me," She thought. "I broke up with him. He cheated on me with Willow." _Did he really?_ Her traitorous mind asked. "Of course, he did! "They were kissing!" _With everything that I know now; Am I sure that it was really their fault?_ Cordelia thought about what she had learned since Xander came for her in the Hyperion. How she was being manipulated, and set up. "Even if it wasn't his fault," She conceded to herself, "He's with Faith now." _So?_ "So? So he's with someone else and Cordelia Chase isn't the type of woman who will ever be the other woman!" Cordelia told herself. _Then don't be the 'Other Woman'. Faith has told you she'll share._ Cordelia found herself recalling how the Brunette slayer had hinted or downright said that she would be open to sharing. Images and possibilities were playing out in Cordelia's mind. "Stop! I am not thinking about this anymore." Cordelia declared. "Besides, until they fix me, I have more important things to think of than Xander and Faith!"

Cordelia got up and headed for the dorm room shower. It really was nice of Buffy and Willow to give their dorm room to Amy and her. Although with Willow now married to Tara and Buffy preferring to live at home, she could see it wasn't a huge sacrifice. And the entire Scooby gang had gone out of their way to make sure that she knew they considered her one of them. Hell, she was going to meet the Queen of England! And soon she would have all of her stuff back, maybe today she should go look at her old house. Mr. Moreland had said that it would only take a few days to get it turned back over to her.

Cordelia smiled. While she didn't need her stuff back, it felt so nice to know that she was no longer destitute. As she was getting dressed Amy came back into their shared room. "Morning Amy," Cordelia said.

Amy smiled at Cordelia, "Morning Cordelia," She replied, "I grabbed some muffins if you want some," She offered to hold up a bag.

"You are wonderful," Cordelia declared as she took one of the proffered muffins. "We still have some juice in the mini-fridge. Do you want orange or apple?" Once both young women were seated and eating Cordelia asked, "So, I was thinking about checking out my old house today. Would you want to come with me?"

"Why?" Amy said. "I mean, I know we were never friends before I became a rat. So why would you want me to go with you?"

Cordelia looked at Amy, "Because I need more friends. I thought I had lost so much when I lost all the money and the house and my clothes." Cordelia paused thinking how to explain it all. "I thought Angel was a real friend, but even now I don't know about him. And I know Gunn cares about me, but Xander and the others, they reached out. They didn't have to do what they did. I mean after how I treated Xander I wouldn't have blamed him for only telling me about this after he was rich. Just to rub it in my face."

"Xander would never do that," Amy said. "Willow sure, I could see that. But not Xander."

"Yeah I know," Cordelia admitted. "And I think even Willow has changed, I mean aside from the whole coming out and marrying Tara thing. But they reached out and now everyone is working to help me, and I don't ever want to go back to being just Queen C," Cordelia smiled. "I may be a Queen Bitch at times, but I really want to be more than just that. And yeah, we weren't close in high school. This isn't high school anymore. So I'd like to try and get to know Amy Madison. Maybe we won't become great friends, but maybe we could be friends."

Amy looked at Cordelia, it was tempting to just be angry at the world. She had lost so much time as a rat. But at the same time she remembered Queen C, and sitting in front of her was someone else. Someone who wanted to be different even after they had lost everything that mattered to them. "OK Cordelia," Amy said. "I'm willing to see if maybe we can be friends." Amy laughed, "It's not like I really had many before becoming a Rat. So it would be nice to make some new ones."

After finishing their meal, Cordelia used the number that Brian Moreland had given her. He told her he could have the keys to her old house and the paperwork ready in a short time, but unless she could get Xander to bring her to him it might take a while before all the paperwork was done. The two young women decided to head over to the Summers house, rather than call Xander for a pickup and see if he was available.

Arriving at the Summers house both young women entered the house. Joyce had been very clear, they were welcome in anytime and they didn't need to knock. While it felt sort of weird they also didn't want to argue with the formidable Mrs. Summers.

"Xander's probably still asleep if he's not up here," Cordelia said. Opening the door, both women headed downstairs to the basement. They could hear music coming from down below, walking down the stairs both women stopped, they could see Xander dancing, well not really dancing, he was-he was performing a striptease. And it was good, both women could see that Xander was in very good shape. "Hello salty goodness," Cordelia murmured.

Amy looked on since she had never seen Xander in a speedo, this was her first time really getting a look at him. "You can say that again," she agreed. Both women continued to watch as Xander stripped to the music. When they had come in he was already bare-chested, by the time the music was done he was down to just a banana hammock.

As the music stopped, Faith started clapping and cheering, Amy looked at Cordelia her face saying, 'Why the hell not?" As Amy started clapping and cheering as well Cordelia joined in.

Xander looked up at the additional noise, seeing Cordelia and Amy standing there clapping for him he turned beet red and tried to hide behind Faith. "Ah, what are you guys doing here?" Xander stammered out.

Cordelia seeing a prime opportunity sashayed over to Xander and Faith. Faith looked at her with a smirk as Cordelia ran her fingers up Xander's chest. "Well we were going to ask for a favor, but we really enjoyed the show," Cordelia licked her lips as she finished speaking.

Faith could see the heat in Cordelia's eyes, the girl was definitely turned on, but Xander was hers. Unless she decided she was going to share him. And Faith had to admit, Cordelia was not someone she would kick out of bed, well at least not right off the bat. "You know he's mine," Faith said. Reaching out to Cordelia, she pulled her closer, "If you're going to touch, you're going to have to pay the toll." She brought her face right up to Cordelia and kissed her. For a second Cordelia didn't respond, then she kissed back but only for a second. Faith broke the kiss and smiled, "We will be having a long talk Cordelia," she promised.

Xander's brain felt like it was about to fry. Faith and Cordy kissing. That was something he could imagine, but never in his wildest dreams did he think it would happen.

Cordelia was shocked, the kiss had surprised her. But her kissing back was even more shocking. And she could tell a part of her had liked it. Looking down she noticed the effect that the kiss had had on Xander, he definitely had liked it. "Ah, talk yeah, we should talk," Cordelia agreed. Turning to Xander whose mouth was open she laughed, "I think we broke him, Dweeb wake up." Cordelia commanded. Xander shook his head coming back to reality. "I need your help. Mr. Moreland said the paperwork was ready to give me back my house and things but I would either need to wait for them to send it or get you to take me to him."

"Ah, Ah, OK?" Xander said. He really wasn't sure what he should say. His brain just kept replaying that kiss. Faith laughed and pulled Xander into a kiss of their own. Twenty seconds later Cordelia cleared her throat to get their attention. "Yeah OK," Xander said. "Let me get dressed and I can try and help. But I really need a cold shower first." Xander turned and left the room trying to maintain what dignity he could while only wearing a very stretched out banana hammock. The three women watched as he left all of them very pleased with the view.

As soon as Xander was safe in his room Faith started laughing, soon she was joined by the other two. "Let's go wait for Boytoy upstairs," Faith suggested. "We can eat and talk about what you're doing today." The three women headed upstairs, while Cordelia and Amy just had coffee, Faith fixed herself some real food.

It took Xander almost twenty minutes before he came back upstairs. Faith seeing him slid a plate of food over to him. He smiled and thanked her as he began to eat, "So do you have a picture of where I'm going?" Xander asked.

"Oh," Cordelia said, "Just a minute. Let me call Moreland and get him to send me one." Five minutes later Xander was orbing Cordelia to Moreland's office.

As the two orbed out, Amy looked at Faith and asked, "So you're planning on sharing him?"

It took almost two hours to sign all the paperwork that gave Cordelia her old house back. The cars had already been sold off. She was surprised to hear that most of the furniture was still in place. Something about it being very hard to find reliable workers to clean out the mansion in Sunnydale. That meant a lot of her clothes would still be there. Granted they were almost a year out of date, but they were hers again. As the last of the paperwork was signed Cordelia was given an envelope, opening it she saw the keys and deed to her house, as well as a bank draft.

"This can't be right," Cordelia told Moreland, holding up the check.

"I'm afraid it is Ms. Chase," Moreland smiled. "You negotiated for everything we had recovered from your parents. We were only able to get just over three million before they ran. But it's now yours."

"Hey Cordy," Xander said, "Does that mean you'll start paying me for taxi services?" Xander had a big grin on his face, showing he was joking.

"Right Dweeb," Cordelia scoffed. "You should be paying me for the privilege."

Xander laughed, "Now there is the Queen C, I know and love. Ready to go back and check out Casa de Chase?" Cordelia nodded and the two of them orbed back to Sunnydale.

Once back at the Summer-Giles house, Cordelia quickly took charge. "We need to stop by the bank first," she said. "After that, let's go to my house, and I'm going to need to pick up my car soon."

"Cordy," Xander said. "Do you want to let me and Faith come with? Your house has been empty for a while, we should check it out to make sure you haven't gotten any unwanted tenants."

Cordelia was about to say no, but when Xander mentioned the possibility of vampires she shook her head. "Yeah, that might be a good idea. But I swear if those vamps have trashed my house I'll make them beg to be staked!"

Xander nodded, "Well I picked up my car earlier. It's not pretty but at least it runs like crap."

"The sacrifices I make to let you serve me," Cordelia said. "Fine, but you're going to have to take me to get my car later. I can't keep going around on foot."

A short time later a very pleased Cordelia Chase left Sunnydale First National. Once the manager had seen the size of the check she was depositing they had fallen all over themselves to give her the best service possible.

Getting back into the car, Cordelia said, "I know it's shallow, but it is really nice to see the same people who looked down at me crawling all over themselves to kiss up to me now."

Faith snorted, "Nah, I get it. I felt the same way when Jeeves told me about what the other watcher said Travers did when they cleared me. I just wis..."

"Ah," Xander broke in covering Faith's mouth with a hand. "No saying the W-I-S-H word. That way lies much badness." Faith licked Xander's hand. He just smiled. Once she shook her head he removed the hand.

"Fine," Faith admitted, "I forgot. OK, I would have liked to have seen Travers face."

"Yeah," Xander admitted. "But maybe we'll be able to see it when both the US and Britain start dismantling the watchers. Once all the potentials are safe, I just want to see Dad beat the crap out of Travers."

"What, not Buffy or Faith?" Amy asked.

"Nah," Faith said. "If me or B did it he wouldn't survive. But G-man can do it and just make him wish he had died."

Reaching the Chase Mansion, Cordelia was very pleased to rip down the IRS notice on the gates. Opening the gate, which they had not even bothered to change the codes on, Xander pulled his car up. Cordelia was smiling her biggest smile as she unlocked her door. Opening it Faith moved into the house first.

"Wow, Barbie," Faith said. "Looks like you got your dream house." The furniture was covered in sheets, and you could tell there was a lot of dust. After a quick check, Faith was able to verify no bad vibes were hitting her. "Looks like you're vamp free," Faith declared.

Walking into her house, Cordelia wasn't sure what she was expecting. Relief? Satisfaction? Joy? None of those hit her. It was a nice place, "But it's not a home," Cordelia whispered.

"It could be Barbie," Faith said. "Just cause it wasn't; don't mean it can't become one."

"Yeah, Cordy," Xander said. "We all have to make our own home. Just cause your parents weren't abusive drunks doesn't mean this was a home. If it had been a home they wouldn't have split without you."

"So what do you need to make it a home," Amy asked. "I mean I don't think any of us ever had a home."

"Dennis," Cordelia said. "I need to get Dennis. He could stay here, and not be stuck in my apartment."

"Ah, Cordy," Xander said. "Who's Dennis. I don't recall seeing any Dennis when I was at your place."

"He's the ghost tied to my apartment," Cordelia explained. "Maybe we could talk to Giles and Willow see if there is a way to move him?"

"Yo Barbie," Faith said. "You've got a ghost for a roommate?"

"Yeah he's great,' Cordelia said. "So now first things first, I need to hire somebody to get this place cleaned up and ready to live in. Then talk to Giles and Willow to get Dennis here, and make sure it's vampire and demon proof." Cordelia moved with a new purpose. "Who knows, maybe we could get Gunn and Wesley to come up and stay here too."

"Gunn's alright," Xander said, "But has Wesley changed at all?"

"Well he did do the whole 'Rogue Demon Hunter' thing for a while," Cordelia admitted.

"Rogue Demon Hunter," Faith asked. "What the hell is that supposed to be?"

"I don't know, it sounds kinda cool," Xander struck a pose. "Xander Giles-Rogue Demon Hunter!" Once the girls stopped laughing, Xander said, "Yeah just not seeing it."

"Come on Dweeb," Cordelia said. "You may drive me to see Giles." Locking up the mansion all four left to find Giles. Finding Giles was easy enough, he even had the information that they needed.

"If you have something of this 'Dennis's' body there is a rather simple spell that can be used to bind his spirit to his remains," Giles explained.

"Well," Cordelia admitted. "I kinda kept his skull after we got rid of the rest of him."

"Why'd ya keep his skull," Faith asked.

Cordelia mumbled something unintelligible.

"Cordy," Xander said, "Not even our resident Slayer could understand what you just said."

Cordelia looked daggers at Xander, "Fine,"she huffed. "I figured maybe I could find someone to bind him to his skull, like in the books."

"Books," Giles asked. "What books? I do hope you haven't been reading anything on necromancy, Cordelia."

Once again Cordelia mumbled something unintelligible.

Xander was looking at her, _What would embarrass her so much she doesn't want anyone to know_? Xander smiled, "So Cordelia," He casually said, "Fan of the Dresden files are we?"

"Zip it, Dweeb," Cordelia said giving Xander a death glare.

"The Dresden Files, Xander?" Giles asked. "You can't mean the records saved by the Nazi's prior to the bombing of Dresden. I realize the SS had quite an occult collection that was smuggled out. But none of those works dealt with necromancy."

Cordelia looked at Giles like he was crazy. Xander started to laugh, "Dad, I think you really need to see about reading something from this decade. The Dresden files are a book series. About Harry Dresden; Wizard for Hire."

Giles sighed, "Of course they are. How silly of me to think that you were referring to the actual Dresden Files."

"Well at least you know what to get Giles for his birthday," Faith said.

"No," Giles said. "I am sure I can survive without reading about a Wizard for Hire. Please don't bother." Somehow Giles was sure he would end up getting one of these _Dresden Files_ books soon enough. "Now the spell is simple enough, Amy or Faith, could certainly do it. You may even be able to do it yourself, Cordelia. Just under no circumstance are you to let Xander perform the spell."

"What," Cordelia asked, "Why? Would something bad happen if he did it?"

"Ah," Xander said. "Remember the love spell? According to mini-me, that's the norm for me and magic. So if I did it we might tie every other ghost in LA to Bob's skull."

"Dennis," Cordelia corrected. "Bob wasn't a ghost," she finished without thinking. Xander smirked at her. Letting her know; it hadn't been a mistake. Just a way to confirm that she had actually read the Dresden files. "Dweeb!"

"Fangirl," Xander replied.

"Yes, well as entertaining as this is," Giles said. "I believe you have everything you need."

"Subtle, Dad," Xander said. "Fine, we'll go. Although for that I think Cordy should let me cast the spell."

"NO!" was yelled by everyone.

"Fine, no magic spells for Xander," Xander said with a mock pout. "I'll just be forced to stick with the cool super powers." Xander was grinning as he finished.

"Duffus," Cordelia declared as she tried to smack his head. Xander laughed as he danced out of the way. "Just let me make a few calls and you can take me to LA." Cordelia made several calls to arrange the mansion's cleaning. "A few more days and we can move in," she said to Amy.

"We," Amy asked.

"Well if you want to," Cordelia said. "I mean it's huge and even with Dennis there it would be pretty lonely. Plus you haven't been a bad roommate so far." The last was said with a smile.

"Sure," Amy said, "Although if anyone had asked me a few years ago, I would have sworn that there was no way that Cordelia Chase would ever want to hang out with me." Amy smiled, "I guess it's a good thing to be proven wrong."

Cordelia smiled back as Xander orbed the group to Cordelia's apartment. Faith, Amy, and Cordelia all performed the spell; it was easy for the three of them to perform. Cordelia was honestly surprised that she could feel something when they cast it. Cordelia realized as nice as her apartment was, she probably wouldn't have any reason to come back. So she sent Xander to get some moving boxes; then the four of them proceed to pack up Cordelia's apartment.

Looking at the meager stack of boxes that represented her life in LA, Cordelia smiled. "Well it's wasn't much, but I think I'm glad I came." Turning to the others she said, "Let's go home." As she finished speaking a vision hit her. Cordelia could see several women, all of them very pregnant, "Big Ass Demon," Cordelia said, her eyes had gone white. "And a bunch of pregnant women. And I know one of them! That's Serena." As the vision continued Cordelia saw all the women being torn apart as they gave birth. "The women will all die if we don't save them," she said. As the vision ended, two things struck Cordelia, one it was one of the clearest visions she had ever had. And two there was no pain. "Wow," Cordelia said in amazement. "No pain! There was no pain!"

"Ah, that's good right?" Amy asked.

"It's amazing," Cordelia said. "I guess whatever the Asgard did must have taken care of the pain." Cordelia's smile lit up the room. "And whatever they did made the vision really clear."

"OK, Barbie," Faith said. "You got an address on this thing?"

"Ah, No," Cordelia admitted. "But it will be soon so we need to find out what this thing is and where it would live. It looked like it was in a warehouse of some kind. And the thing was freaking huge, easily nine or ten feet tall. Plus one of the women was my friend Serena."

"No problem then," Xander said. "We just need to find a warehouse in LA that has a ten-foot tall demon living in it, piece of cake. Or we could try calling your friend."

Cordelia smacked Xander's arm, "Shut it, dweeb! We call Angel, Wesley, and Gunn. They may have already heard something. So while I'm trying to get them on the phone, you can orb my stuff back to the mansion. Then we can try and find Serena."

"Try?" Amy asked.

"Well, she's sort of a friend. I mean I met her on some auditions. And we were going to go clubbing together. But I really don't know her well," Cordelia admitted.

"So do you know where this girl lives?" Amy asked. Cordelia shook her head no. "OK, so we have to find this sort of friend of yours before a demon rips itself out of her body, only we don't know where she lives, or where the demon is. Right?"

"Yeah," Faith said. "No sweat, it'll be easy."

Looking at the boxes Xander thought he could move everything easily in one trip. _Definitely easier that moving all the soldiers and their gear_. "I'll be back," Xander said in a horrible Schwarzenegger impression. Xander gathered everything around him and orbed it back to the Chase Mansion.

Cordelia quickly got a hold of Wesley, after describing her vision, he promised to start researching it immediately. Unfortunately, Angel wasn't at the hotel. He had been spending most of the last night and today trying to find any information he could about what was happening to Cordelia. Cordelia smiled when she heard that. Wesley did let her know that Angel was planning to be at a Neutral Demon Bar he had heard of called Caritas. After getting the address from Wesley, Cordelia hung up. Xander had already gotten back from dropping her stuff off.

Piling everyone into Cordelia's car was a tight fit. "This is not what you would have driven back in high school," Amy commented looking at the 1995 Toyota Supra.

"Well," Cordelia said, "It runs and was able to get me around."

"Hey," Xander said, "It's not as bad as the car I have right now. So I'd call it a win. Oh, and I definitely call dibs on sitting in the front." Xander was looking at the tight space for the back of Cordelia's car. While it had back seats, they were not intended for real people. Once everyone was in the car. Cordelia drove to the address Wesley had given her. "So Angel's supposed to show up at this address?" Xander asked, looking at the sky, which still showed several hours of daylight left.

"That's what Wesley said," Cordelia confirmed. Getting out of the car, all four of the teens looked at the building in front of them. "It doesn't look like much," Cordelia commented.

"Still can't be as bad as Willy's," Faith said.

"Yeah," Xander agreed. "But like that would be hard to do." From the outside, Caritas looked like it was a run down bar. Heading into the building, all four were impressed by the change once they opened the door. "OK, I might have to take that back," Xander said. "It looks like this used to be a strip club." Inside the concrete floors and small tables, along with the lighting did remind him of a strip club.

"And how would you know what a strip club looks like?" Amy asked.

"Four words; Fabulous Ladies Night Club," Xander replied with a smirk.

"What," asked Cordelia. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"I'll never tell," Xander said as he was the last to enter the club.

Cordelia's reply was interrupted by the arrival of a green skinned demon with red eyes. He was dressed in a plum colored suit, with a cravat. "Welcome to Caritas," the demon said. "I am the Host, what can I do for you, kids?" Lorne wasn't sure about a bunch of humans coming in together, but they didn't seem freaked out. So it was either they thought this was a theme bar or they knew about demons.

"Thanks," Faith said. "We need a table, we're supposed to meet someone here later." Lorne lead the group to a booth. As they sat down Faith asked, "So what kind of demon are you?"

"Pylean actually," Lorne replied. Seeing that none of them recognized it. He added, "Don't worry about it. Pylea is nothing to write home about. I mean can you say Boring?" Shaking his horned head, Lorne continued, "I was never happier to get away from someplace." As Lorne was speaking a female demon with small black horns and attractive black scales running from her shoulders to the sides of her face came by. "This lovely lady is Mia she'll take care of you. It's still early normally things don't get going until after sunset. Still, if you'd like to give it a whirl, we are known for out Karaoke, go on up sing and I'll tell you what I see."

"Huh," Faith said. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, I see," Lorne said. "Well, it's like this, pumpkin. When someone sings I can see some of what's in store for them. Sort of the signs coming up on the highway of life. After you're done singing, I give you the low down on what I saw. Then you can make informed choices." As the four young people nodded, Lorne added, "So any of you up for a song? Don't be shy, trust me we get all kinds in here."

After much prodding by the girls, Xander agreed to sing. When Faith and Cordelia picked out the song, he should have known better. On the small stage, the music started playing as the lyrics for _Send Me an Angel_ started scrolling by.

 _Do you believe in heaven above  
Do you believe in love  
Don't tell a lie don't be false and untrue  
It all comes back to you_

As Xander started singing, he looked at Faith, pouring himself into his rendition of the song. With the second stanza, Xander opened up, switching his gaze to Cordelia.

 _Open fire!  
On my burning heart  
I've never been lucky in love  
My defenses are down  
A kiss or a frown  
I can't survive on my own_

While Xander was not a great singer he did a very good job, for an amateur. Xander was switching between all three girls since they were the only ones besides the Host and the wait staff in the bar right now.

 _If a girl walks in and carves her name in my heart  
I'll turn and run away  
Everyday we've all been led astray  
It's hard to be lucky in love  
It gets in your eyes  
It's making you cry  
Don't know what to do  
Don't know what to do  
You're looking for love  
Calling heaven above  
Send me an angel  
Send me an angel  
Right now, right now_

As Xander sung Lorne tried to look at him. He quickly called Mia over to him, "Seabreeze and a large glass of rum." Mia nodded and headed off. Whatever the boss was seeing was big. He normally only needed extra fortification when it was something really big. Once Xander was done the girls cheered, and he took a bow. Reaching the booth, he was in time to see Lorne knock back a large glass of what he suspected wasn't water.

"What," Xander asked. "Was I that bad?"

Lorne shook his head, "No Angelkins, your singing was fine. It's just trying to look at you was like trying to make sense of Escher's drawing." Seeing Xander's confused look he continued, "Normally I go over this in private, do you want to grab another table while we talk?"

"Nah," Xander said. "I'm good with the girls hearing whatever it is."

"Alright then," Lorne said. "First off, you make Destiny feel like it's been put on a tilt-a-whirl after a three-day bender. Seriously, looking at you, you have no set Destiny. And anyone who comes into your orbit, well I don't think they'll have one for long either."

"What does that mean?" Xander asked.

"Like Sarah said, 'No Fate, but what you make.' That's you, Angelkins," Lorne explained. "Once someone is hanging around you if they had a Destiny locked in, you unlock it. You're all choices and chance."

Faith laughed, "So basically Boytoy, messes up everyone's big plans when it comes to Destiny?" When Lorne nodded she added, "Yeah, we already knew that. Pisses them off big time."

"Part of me wants to ask how you could know that," Lorne said, taking a long drink of his sea breeze. "But most of me knows I'll sleep better by not knowing it." All four of them laughed at that. "So bottom line, I can't read you. I doubt anyone or anything can read you."

"Meh," Xander said, "I'm good with that. But why do you keep calling me 'Angelkins'?"

Lorne nodded, "Well just because I couldn't read you doesn't mean I couldn't see you. And let me say, even coming from Pylea, which while it isn't strictly speaking a hell dimension, is bad enough. I have seen customer's with close ties to the hell dimensions." Lorne paused again to drink, signaling Mia to bring him another. "However, I think you're the first being I've ever seen, that has come from an actual Heaven."

"You saw that," Xander asked. "Any idea why I can't get back in right now?"

"Not a clue, Angelkins," Lorne replied. "But I'm sure if you keep trying one day you'll end up back there."

"I thought you said you couldn't read him," Cordelia asked.

"I can't," Lorne agreed. "But it's like the lottery, eventually, you can hit it if you try often enough. He scrambles everything. So if he keeps trying eventually something will give and he'll be where he wants to be."

"That makes a kinda sense that's not," Xander said.

"I think he means," Amy began. "That if there is a one in a million chance you'll do something. Even if it's only supposed to be a one-time chance, you'll eventually hit it. No matter how many times you've tried."

"Smart and Beautiful," Lorne complimented Amy. "So you don't just hang around these beauties for their looks," He said to Xander.

While everyone laughed at that, Xander agreed wholeheartedly. "You got that right. So who's next," Xander paused dramatically, then smiled. "I think it's only fair that I pick out a song for each of you."

The girls looked at each other, "Fine but if two of the three of us disagree, you have let us chose something else," Amy said.

"Fine, Fine, no problem," Xander agreed. "Faith's up first." Going up to the karaoke machine Xander looked over the choices and smiled, "Perfect!"

Showing his choice to Faith she smiled and said, "Hell ya." The music started and Faith started singing.

 _I saw him dancin' there by the record machine  
I knew he must a been about seventeen  
The beat was goin' strong  
Playin' my favorite song  
An' I could tell it wouldn't be long  
Till he was with me, yeah me,  
An' I could tell it wouldn't be long  
Till he was with me, yeah me, singin'  
I love rock n' roll  
So put another dime in the jukebox, baby  
I love rock n' roll  
So come an' take your time an' dance with me_

Faith's voice pulled off the smoky, husky tones of Joan Jett easily. Faith exuded sexuality as she sang, and gyrated to the music. Switching between Xander and Cordelia as she sang. Lorne watching her, was asking himself, _Who the hell are these people?_ If he could have gotten greener he would have. Calling Mia over he said, "Keep the sea breezes coming and bring the bottle of rum." Mia nodded at her boss and left to follow his orders.

As Faith finished her song and came back to the table, Lorne looked at them all, "Well so far for surprises you're two for two." Standing up he bowed to Faith, "My Lady of Winter, It's not often we get royalty in here."

"Royalty me?" Faith laughed, "I think you got that wrong."

"Oh, it's there," Lorne assured her. "I saw you with a court that spanned the stars. And you were the princess in charge of it all. Whatever you were going to be; before you hooked up with your Angel, that's gone. What you have in the future, well it's still not set in stone thanks to Angelkins. But I saw you with hundreds of girls, and armies that followed you out amount the stars."

As Lorne finished speaking he also finished the last of his third sea breeze. "Only thing I can tell you is right now. You've got all the help around you that you'll need to succeed. Make sure you use it. Learn everything you can, and then when you're up there it will be much easier."

"Yeah," Faith tried to argue. "Sort of hard to see that since I got things to do here. People and stuff counting on me. Ya know?"

"Might be true for right now," Lorne said "But it won't be forever. Because your job will be protecting us from what's out there. I don't know who, but it's somebody else's job to protect this big blue marble, from what's down here."

As everyone nodded and sipped their drinks Xander said, "Amy, you're up next." Amy looked apprehensive, but she followed Xander up and then laughed as he picked the song. The music started with a strong beat, and Amy cut loose.

 _Can't stay at home, can't stay at school  
Old folks say, ya poor little fool  
Down the street I'm the girl next door  
I'm the fox you've been waiting for_

 _Hello Daddy, hello Mom  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb  
Hello world I'm your wild girl  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb_

 _Stone age love and strange sounds too  
Come on baby let me get to you  
Bad nights cause'n teenage blues  
Get down ladies you've got nothing to lose_

 _Hello Daddy, hello Mom  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb  
Hello world I'm your wild girl  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb_

 _Hello Daddy, hello Mom  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb  
Hello world I'm your wild girl  
I'm your ch ch ch ch ch cherry bomb_

Lorne was actually smiling as Amy finished. Amy was flushed as she stopped singing, she had really gotten into the song. Walking over to the table, everyone was clapping for her. By now a few more people had turned up and the club was starting to fill up.

Faith was looking at the newcomers and getting tense. "What's wrong, Faith?" Xander asked.

"Three Vamps just came in, with that human," Faith said pointing to a group of three men and a woman. "The chick's the human. She's going to get eaten if I don't do something."

"Not here she won't my Lady," Lorne said. "Non-violence wards are all around the building. No demon can start a fight."

"What about humans?" Xander asked.

Lorne stopped, "Well, that's never actually come up before. But most humans wouldn't try and start a fight here."

Xander snorted, "You haven't met the right humans then." Turning to Faith he said, "You want to go talk to them?"

Faith nodded, "Yeah, even if they can't do nothin here. Maybe we can make sure they don't drain her once they leave."

"I'll go with you," Xander said. "Cordy and Amy can stay here with Lorne." Looking at Lorne he added, "Don't worry, we won't start anything here."

As Xander and Faith moved to talk to the group, Lorne looked at Amy and Cordelia, "Are they always that impulsive?"

Both girls nodded. "Xander always has to try and save people. And well Faith's a Slayer, so what do you expect?" Cordelia responded.

"Oh, no, honey," Lorne said. "She might have been a Slayer, but now she is so much more. Sort of like you," He nodded to Amy. "You had a bad road in front of you, lots of dark magic and jealousy. Now you've got options. You can still go dark if you want to, but it'll be your choice. Before you met Angelkins, you were destined to follow in your Mother's footsteps." Amy drew in a sharp breath to protest. Lorne reached out and took her hand. "Operative word there was _'Were'_. Now you future is bright. You can choose who you want to be, what you want to be. If you keep hanging around with Wings over there; then nothing will ever be able to dictate what you have to be or do."

Amy nodded and looked to Mia as she came back for a refill, "I think I need something with a kick. Rum, and Coke please." Mia nodded and left to get the drink.

"What, you don't card here?" Cordelia asked.

Lorne laughed, "Honey, this is a mixed species bar, we don't actually get inspections when it comes to the police checking for ID. Especially since most of my customers don't have legal ID. If someone gets too rowdy we cut them off. Besides with what I saw for her, she definitely deserves to have a drink."

As Faith and Xander approached the table where the three vampires were sitting with the human female, they could hear the woman speaking. "Rumors to the contrary, while there may have been a shake up. Our firm is still the premier firm for helping you. If anything, you could say we're in an even better position now with the recent consolidation."

Faith laughed, "Somehow I doubt these guys really need your help," she said to the table. "I mean three Vamps? I think their most likely to need help with the mess they'll make after being dusted."

Lilah arched her eyebrow, "Really. And who might you be?"

"I'm Faith," Faith replied, "Who are you and did you know you're hanging with vampires?"

"Lilah Morgan, Wolfram, and Hart," Lilah replied holding out a business card. "And these three gentlemen are long time clients of Wolfram and Hart. So I suggest that you rethink your plans to harm them."

Faith looked at the card, "Wolfram and Hart? Never heard of them. Still, they're vampires; means I have a free pass for slaying them. It's what I do." Faith smiled at Lilah.

"Oh, I think you'll find out very quickly that if you cross Wolfram and Hart," Lilah said with her own smile, "that you'll quickly wish you were dead before we're finished with you."

The three vampires had been sitting back watching the proceedings. Since they knew about Caritas, they also knew about the wards on the bar. "Now Lilah," said the oldest looking one, "If this girl is so eager to die, we can certainly step outside and accommodate her." The last was said as he morphed into his game face. "After all, I'm feeling peckish." the vampire licked his lips while looking at Faith.

 _Great_ Lilah thought, _vampires, always thinking with their stomachs!_ "I thought we were here to discuss your ongoing business with my firm?"

"Lilah," The leader of the vampires said. "There's always time to stop and enjoy the blood. Besides it won't take very long to dispose of her, or the boy if he wants to join in."

"Fine," Lilah said. "But cleaning up their bodies will be charged to your account. I doubt the Host would be happy if you left them in the alley. Just be quick about it."

"Faith," Xander said. "You want to take em all on your own?"

"Yeah," Faith said stretching. "I haven't had much chance the last few days to satisfy the urge, ya know? Three should be a good warm up. Won't even need to use any of my special moves."

"OK," Xander said. "I'm still going to be watching your back."

"Yeah," Faith smirked. "But that's just because I've got a great ass."

Xander nodded, "Well at least one of the many reasons I like watching you." Getting up the three vampires began heading outside. The twilight light made Xander wonder how the three had managed to get inside in the first place. "Hey, how'd they manage to come in when it was still light?"

"Wolfram and Hart is a full-service law firm," Lilah replied. "When we need to help a client there is no obstacle we can't overcome."

One of the vampires laughed, "Yeah the necro-tinted glass makes it nice so that you can watch all the sheep scurrying around in the day."

Stepping behind the building the three vampires faced Faith. Lilah and Xander were over to the side. "So," Faith said. "How do you want to do this? I can kill you one at a time or…"

"Grab her, boys," the leader said. As the two other vampires charged from the left to the right Faith smiled. "Figured you'd go for the 'Or' option." The leader was holding back, waiting for his minions to have a good hold on the girl before he drained her. As they rushed forward, arms outstretched, Faith jumped in the air, flipping over them. The one to the right she struck in the back of the head with her foot as she passed over him. He dropped to the ground, a large section of his skull caved in. Faith landed, her back to the leader, and looked at the other vampire, holding up her hand she gestured for him to come get some. The vampire looked down at his fallen companion, snarled and charged. Faith blocked his fist with her forearm; she delivered a short kick to his leg snapping the bone, which caused the vampire to cry out and drop to the ground.

"You bitch," the injured vampire yelled, I'm going to torture you for that! You'll be begging to die." He reached for Faith as she came closer. Grabbing his arm, Faith broke the left arm first. Then twisting around so that his right arm was trapped between her legs she smiled as she braced one foot on his body and the other on the ground.

With a quick jerk, Faith pulled the vampire's arm free from its body. The vampire started to scream. "Shut up," Faith said as she punched him in the face, her fist caused his forehead to crumple around it. Leaking brains onto her. "Ewww," Faith said. "Now that's gross!"

Turning to face the leader Faith saw him standing there, holding a gun. "Vamps using guns? What's the world coming to?" Faith tensed up getting ready to dodge.

"Yes, well, I, unlike some of my dumber brethren have never had a problem adapting to the modern life. And guns work so well on humans, I'm guessing they'll at least hurt you if it won't kill you," The vampire said as he raised the gun.

"Yo Boytoy," Faith called out. "Think this counts as cheating?"

"Well," Xander said with a smile. "It would if he actually had a gun." As he said the word ' _Gun_ ' the gun shimmered in the blue light of his orbing. The orbing also took the vampire's hand. Both appeared in Xander's hands for a brief moment before the hand turned to ash.

"Thanks for the hand, Boytoy," Faith said with a smile. She rushed up to the startled vampire and quickly staked him. As he crumbled to dust he still had the surprised look on his face. Turning to the minions Faith grabbed their wallets and pulled out over a thousand dollars from the two of them. "Damn," she said. "I should have remembered to do that with the other one before dusting him!"

"It's not like we need the money, Faith," Xander commented.

"Yeah," Faith said, "But ya know, old habits and all that." Faith then dusted the two minions.

Lilah had been standing there looking at both of them. "What are you?"

Faith laughed, and Xander said. "Why we're just a couple of concerned citizens. That's all." Turning the two of them walked out of the alley and back into Caritas.

Lilah paused for a moment then pulled out her phone, calling the office she said. "The Masterson account was just closed...No, they didn't choose other representation. A young girl just dusted all three of their representatives...She could be...I'll grab some photos of her and whoever she's with and bring them right back to the office." Hanging up the phone Lilah went back inside. She used her cell phone to take photos of Faith, Xander, Cordelia and Amy, then she quickly left.

After re-entering the club, Xander and Faith saw that Cordelia and Amy were sitting alone. The Host was off to the side talking to some demon. "So who was the woman," Cordelia asked.

"Some chick lawyer," Faith said. "Works for some law firm she thought we should know just by the name."

Cordelia looked at Lilah, then asked, "Wolfram and Hart?"

"Yeah," Xander said. "Why? You know who they are?"

Cordelia shook her head, "Big time evil lawyers. They're like a demonic law firm. Angel ran into them once before. But I don't know much about them. We could ask him when he finally gets here."

"Fine," Xander said. "So Cordy, you're up. And I have the **perfect** song for you."

Cordelia looked distrustfully at Xander. "What is it?"

"Follow me," Xander lead Cordelia up to the stage. When he pulled up the song Cordelia started protesting.

"No way, Dufus. I am not singing that!" Cordelia said.

"Ladies," Xander called to Faith and Amy, "Could I get a ruling?" Once Faith and Amy looked at the song, they both laughed and sided with Xander.

"Fine," Cordelia said grudgingly, "but I will get even with all of you! And you, you Dork, you have to do the male parts!"

"Fair's, Fair Xander," Amy said. "You can't expect her to do those parts."

"Fine, I'll do it," Xander agreed.

The music started and the two began singing.

 _Hiya Barbie  
Hi Ken!  
Do you want to go for a ride?  
Sure Ken  
Jump in_

 _I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
Imagination, life is your creation_

 _Come on Barbie, let's go party!_

 _I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere  
Imagination, life is your creation_

 _I'm a blond bimbo girl, in a fantasy world  
Dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly  
You're my doll, rock'n'roll, feel the glamor in pink  
Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky  
You can touch  
you can play  
if you say "I'm always yours"_

 _I'm a Barbie girl, in a Barbie world  
Life in plastic, it's fantastic  
You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere_

Cordelia actually didn't sound too bad, since she wasn't trying to hit high notes that were outside of her range it came off really good. Xander added just the right amount of gruff to his voice to make it work.

When the song ended, Lorne, who had been staring at her since she started singing, fell to the ground, out cold.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 27

As Lorne hit the floor, all talk in the club stopped. Several of the employees rushed over to check on him. "I don't think we were that bad," Xander quipped. He could see that Lorne was already starting to wake up. Watching Lorne get to his feet, Cordelia and Xander approached him. "So, saw something big?" Xander asked.

"You could say that, Angelkins," Lorne said. "For this, I think we need to talk in private. Gather your friends if you want and follow me." The noise in the club had resumed and the four teens followed Lorne into his office.

Once everyone was seated in the small space, Lorne took a stiff drink. "Well, Honey," he said. "You were an even bigger surprise than Angelkins and Lady Winter." Lorne paused trying to think of how to phrase everything. "You had a real crap destiny coming your way. Angle-boy there derailed it. But it was too late to correct some of the damage done. Someone else threw another spanner in the works. And somehow, don't ask me how, you've been upgraded."

"Upgraded," Cordelia asked. "How? And to what?"

"Well," Lorne started to say, "You know how your cute little gray friends said your brain was being fried?" As Cordelia nodded her head she wondered how Lorne could know these things. "Yeah, that's all fixed now. Someone with a real gift for words did something. Whoever he is he's powerful. All I can tell you about him is he's older than you, and I got the image of him polishing his glasses."

"Giles?" Cordelia said. Quickly followed by Xander's "Dad?"

"So I take it you know who I'm talking about? Well, he's got a gift for words, and I'm talking the old time Bards. Somehow he changed something and you were the lucky winner." Lorne stopped to drink again. "Seems there was a crazy vampire, she was planning something that would have made her pretty much the Alpha and the Omega, and your friend Giles spiked her wheels."

"Black hair, Dresses like she's still in the eighteen hundreds?" Xander supplied.

"Oh, you know her too?" Lorne replied.

"Yeah, Drusilla," Xander said. "She's crazier than a warehouse full of fruitcakes. Always calls me her kitten."

"Well," Lorne continued. "I'm not sure what happened, but whatever she did upgraded you." He pointed to Cordelia again. "You're now probably one of the most powerful seers on the planet. Hell probably in this dimension and a few others. Somehow, and I still don't understand this part. You've got powers that...How do I explain this? You know who the Fates were?"

"You mean the Greek Fates?" Amy asked. Lorne nodded yes. "Ah, Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropos. One spun the threads of life, the other measured and the last one cut."

"Close enough," Lorne said. "Well, that crazy vampire was shooting to have all that power for herself. But like I said your friend Giles screwed that up for her. And you, my dear Lady, are one of the results." Once again he pointed to Cordelia.

"One of," Cordelia asked. "Who are the others?"

"Well, the girl Drusilla did still manage to get some of what she had wanted so she's had a major upgrade too. But from the connections, I saw it's not what the vampire was expecting. In fact, the vampire is probably pretty pissed off about the results. I didn't see a third which is very good as I don't think we need the Power of Three determining everyone's lives. But you, you're the new Clotho."

"What," screamed Cordelia. "What the hell does that mean?"

"No idea," Lorne admitted. "It gets better too."

"How does it get better?" Amy asked.

"Well, the Vampire wanted to make sure she had some loyal slaves to work with, two specifically." Lorne took another drink. "She's already chosen one of them, made him her new Hercules. But she'll have to find the other one. Unless you find him first."

"OK," Xander said. "Who is he? And where do we find him? And does he have to be a slave? Can we get him out of that?"

"Slave might be misleading," Lorne admitted. "That's what little Miss Crazy wanted. Like I said your friend the Bard changed that. But even then they're two protectors for the seers, and they will still be drawn to their mistresses." Lorne looked up at the ceiling, "I didn't sign on for this you know!" Looking at the Scoobies he sighed. "The other protector is Achilles, and it seems I've been handed the job."

Everyone sat in silence for a minute, "So that mean you can turn it down," Faith asked.

Lorne shook his head, "Not if I want to keep breathing. I could maybe stay ahead of the crazy one for awhile, but eventually, she'd be able to find me. So my choices are Clotho here or the crazy version of Atropos."

"That doesn't seem like much of a choice," Xander said. "Death or locked into some kind of slavery."

"Like I said, Angelkins, slavery might have overstated things. I'm guessing here, that it will be a whole lot more like I'd really like to do whatever Clotho wants me to do." Lorne didn't look happy about the last part. "On the upside, if I read the names right, almost nothing would be able to kill me. And let me tell you, Pyleans are already really hard to kill."

"But I don't want to have any slaves," Cordelia admitted. "I mean it might sound nice, but I wouldn't want to do that to anyone."

"Then don't," Xander said. Looking at Lorne, "I'm guessing there more to this than her just saying 'yo, you're my slave,' right?"

Lorne shook his head, "She'd have to formally acknowledge who I am, but if she wanted to she could do it at any time. Just a matter of Naming me, Calling me, Binding me and then Announcing me."

"I need a drink," Cordelia announced. "This is way too much. What the Hell is going on, Seriously!"

Xander meanwhile was thinking. He knew Cordelia and the Host didn't look very happy at the idea of their proposed relationship. And it went against everything he believed in, taking someone's choices away. "Look, ah, I'm sorry but I can't keep calling you 'The Host'. What can we call you?"

"Call me Lorne for now," Lorne admitted.

While Cordelia was looking at him and she said, "Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan"

"See what I mean," Lorne said, "I know Clotho here didn't mean to do that, but she's not going to be able to help herself."

"Look, Lorne," Xander said, "Write down what you think she would have to say. Then let me have a look at what I can do to it. Then we can try it my way. Who knows? You yourself said I screw-up Destiny, so let's see if we can do it again."

Looking at Xander, Lorne recognized a real chance here, a chance to not become some obedient slave. And it looked like it would be his only chance, because if the crazy one caught him, who knows what she would do to him. Lorne wrote out the words. Xander took the paper and looked at it.

Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, I name you.  
Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, I call you to service.  
Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, I bind you to my service.  
Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, you are my Achilles.

After a few minutes, Xander handed the paper back to Cordelia and Lorne.

Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, I name you a free man.  
Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, I call you to service of yourself.  
Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, I bind you to your service; only inasmuch as you desire to serve.  
Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, you are Achilles.

Lorne commented, "I'm male but not really what you humans might call a man."

Xander shrugged, "That's just what spoke to me, so I went with it. We can call in Dad to have him look over this if you want; you said he's a Bard so maybe he could come up with something better."

Lorne shook his head, "As powerful as he seemed to be, I'd rather try my luck with the guy who spanks Destiny and the Fates."

Faith laughed, "That true Cordelia? Boytoy ever spanked you? And more importantly did you like it?" Cordelia turned bright red and surprisingly was unable to respond as her brain froze up.

"Before Clotho loses it," Lorne broke in, "How about we see if this will work?" Cordelia nodded then took the paper and began reading it out loud. As Cordelia finished the last line Lorne began to glow. The light suffused his body and momentarily blinded everyone. Once everyone could see again, a very human-looking Lorne was standing in front of them.

"What the Hell," Faith asked. "You knocked the Demon out of him?"

Lorne was looking at himself, "Sweetie, I didn't have any human in me, to begin with, so I have no idea what this is. But it really doesn't feel right. Eww, I can feel my heart in my chest, that is just so wrong!"

"Wait, where was your heart before?" Amy asked.

"Not important right now," Cordelia said. "So how do we know this worked the right way?"

"Well," Xander suggested. "You could try ordering him to do something he doesn't want to do. Like...Hey Lorne, what's a drink you refuse to drink, you absolutely hate?"

"Hate?" Lorne said, "None really, but I'm definitely not a fan of strawberry daiquiris."

"What?" Cordelia said, "But those are so good."

"Well there we go," Xander said. "Let's get one in here and then Cordy can try to order you to drink it." New drinks were brought in, Surprisingly only Xander and Faith were sticking to soft drinks.

Once the drinks were sitting in front of them Cordelia looked at Lorne, "Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, drink the Strawberry Daquiri."

Lorne looked at it, "No thanks, sweetie." A cheer broke out in the office. "Looks like you were at least partially right, Angelkins. No slavery, I didn't feel the least little desire to obey. But I'm still stuck looking like a human."

Cordelia started staring at Lorne, "No you're not," she said. "I can see it in you, you're still there. You just have to bring it out."

"Bring it out," Faith asked. "How's he supposed to do that? I mean is it like vampires with Game Face?" Faith started looking at Lorne, suddenly she could see him. Underneath his human face was his original appearance. "Woah, she's right, I can see it now."

"Alright, then," Xander broke in, "So Lorne, try to connect to your other half. From what these two say it should still be in you."

Lorne tried to do what Xander said, concentrating on how his body should feel. Because right now it didn't feel right at all. How could these humans stand the heart beating in their chests? A few moments later Lorne shimmered as his body regained its normal looks.

"Wow," Xander said. "It worked!" Smiling at Lorne he asked, "So can you switch between human and Pylean?"

"I don't know that I'd want to try," Lorne admitted.

"Yeah," Xander said. "But if you don't find out now you know you'll need to do it at some point and it'll come back to bite you on the ass."

Lorne didn't like it that the kid made so much sense. "Fine, let me see if I can switch back and forth." This time, Lorne concentrated on what the Human body had felt like. It took almost a minute but he switched back. Then another ten minutes were spent going back and forth till he could almost become human as easily as he became Pylean. "You know this will make doing some things easier since I won't need a glamor to explain my looks."

"So what happens now?" Amy asked.

"Well, if Xander got the wording right," Cordelia said. "Then nothing. Lorne lives his life like he wants to."

"But hey," Xander said with a smirk. "On the bright side, it sounds like you got upgraded to demigod status. Club meeting yet to be determined. We still have to work out the dues too."

"What are you talking about Dweeb?" Cordelia asked.

"Achilles, he was like a Greek demigod right?" Xander said. "Well when Dad found out about my upgrade he called me a Demigod, so I figure Lorne and I can form a club. Great for male bonding."

Lorne laughed, "You're a riot, Angelkins. But you know that there's at least one other out there? Whoever the bleach blond was that Atropos called as Hercules."

"Bleach Blond?" Xander asked, "Sort of looked like a bad Billy Idol impersonator?"

"I take it you know who he is?" Lorne said.

"Spike," Cordelia and Xander said at the same time.

"That's just great," Xander said. "So Billy Wanna Be got upgraded too. Looks like we're going to have some more research in the future." Just then there was a knock on Lorne's office door. Opening it the waitress Mia was standing there.

"Sorry Lorne," Mia said. "But there's a vampire out here that's been asking for you for the past fifteen minutes."

"Want me to take care of him?" Faith offered.

"Thanks, but no, Ice princess," Lorne said. "I'd best return to my adoring public. Now that we've gotten everything straightened out here."

"You know if you're interested," Cordelia said. "We might know some people who'll have some really interesting job opportunities opening in the near future."

"Ah, Cordy," Xander said. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, I just think Lorne could make a great Minister of Entertainment for the island," Cordy replied. "It's like I can see him, and he'd have a blast doing it too." Cordelia shook her head. "OK, that was weird. I could see him and it was like I was seeing whole years of his life. What the Hell is with this thing? I mean it beats the mind killing visions, but really what is going on?"

"You're Clotho now," Lorne said.

"Like that's supposed to explain it," Cordelia snapped. "Except where it doesn't!"

"Clotho created the threads of life," Lorne explained. "She could see the possibilities. Then her sister Lachesis would choose the path, and then Atropos would cut the thread. I'm guessing you're seeing the possibilities in people when you look at them. But you're not going to be choosing their path. You can just let people know their options."

Cordelia nodded, "That at least makes some sense."

"So, interested in a job on an island paradise?" Xander asked. "Guaranteed to never get boring."

"Maybe we can talk about it later," Lorne said. "Right now I have customers waiting." Opening the office door Lorne left first followed a moment later by the Scoobies.

"Cordy," Xander said. "I think once we save your friend we really need to have the Asgard check you again." Cordelia nodded her head in agreement. "And nobody tells Dad about him being a Bard, I want to see what we can do with that first."

"What are you thinking, Boytoy?" Faith suspiciously asked.

"Nothing yet," Xander admitted. "First we need to do some research. Then we'll know what he can do and figure out how we can have some fun with him."

Walking out of the office everyone saw Lorne was talking with Angel. "Deadboy," Xander called out in greeting. "Fancy meeting you here."

Cordelia snorted, "Doofus, he's the whole reason we came here in the first place. Remember?"

"Ah, Cordy," Xander pouted. "You blew such a great set up."

Angel on seeing Harris just shook his head, "What do you want, Harris?"

"Giles," Xander corrected.

Angel grinned at him. "Whatever, so why are you here?" Moving closer to the group, Angel caught a whiff of Cordelia. Angel stopped, "What happened to you, Cordelia? You don't smell right anymore."

Cordelia looked at Angel, "First of all, Ewww! Don't sniff me. Second, of all, it seems like my problem has been solved."

Angel didn't know whether he should be happy or sad. He genuinely thought he liked Cordelia. But at the same time, he was depending on her visions to know who he was supposed to help. Of course, the first words out his mouth didn't endear him to anyone. "So the visions are gone?"

Xander groaned, "I swear Deadboy, you just keep digging that hole deeper and deeper."

Cordelia looked at Angel, "No I still have them, just no pain."

Angel smiled, "That's great, so when will you be coming back?"

"Ah," Cordelia began. "Angel, I'm sorry but I'm not coming back." Angel looked like someone had just smacked him in the face.

"But, your visions," Angel began. "They're supposed to guide me, tell me who needs saving."

"Oh, Grow-up Captain Forehead," Xander said. "There are tons of people who need help out there. You don't need someone to lead you by the hand to go help people. Just do it. Quite sitting on your ass waiting for someone to come make you help!"

Angel snarled at Xander, his face changing to reveal his vampiric side, "Shut the Hell up, Harris. You have no idea what you're talking about! This is my chance for redemption!" Angel was pissed enough to forget one thing, the rules of Caritas. He swung at Xander and just before his fist would have connected, he felt every bone in his hand break."Son of a Bitch! Go hifreann leat![a]"

"And you're still the same worthless piece of trash I had to pull out of his apartment to help me save Buffy," Xander said looking down at Angel. "I told you then, and I'll repeat it, 'Prove you a man. Prove me wrong!' there's still time for you to do that. But only if you pull your over gelled head out of your ass."

"Enough," Cordelia said. "Look, Angel, Xander is right, you can do good without my visions. But when I get one I can always call you and let you know about it. That's why we were looking for you; I had a vision earlier today." After explaining the vision to Angel, Cordelia looks at him. "So what do you want to do?"

"You've already called Wesley?" Angel confirmed. When Cordelia nodded, "I think we need to find your friend."

"Well Duh," Cordelia said. "But I don't know where she lives!"

"Well, do you have a phone number for her?" Angel asked.

"Oh," Cordelia paused, "Ah, yeah I do, hold on." Digging through her purse Cordelia pulled out a small book. Looking through it, she found Serena's number. Quickly she tried to call her. After a minute she said, "No answer, any other ideas?"

"Let's talk to Wesley maybe he has something on this demon that we can track it down," Angel suggested.

As they were leaving the club, Xander turned to Lorne. "Seriously think about what Cordy said. And think about the club. Could be a lot of fun." Lorne shook his head as they all left.

The drive back to the Hyperion was quick. Parking and entering the hotel, Angel called out. "Wesley, where are you?"

Wesley came out from one of the rooms with a book in hand, "No need to shout, Angel. I'm right here."

"So have you managed to identify the demon Cordelia saw?" Angel asked.

"Yes," Wesley said. "I believe it's a Halix Beast." Pulling open a book he showed it to Cordelia. "Is this what you saw in your vision?"

"Yeah," Cordelia confirmed. "That's Mr. Ugly himself."

"Well this is disturbing," Wesley said. "According to this entry, the Halix Beast when full grown can not be harmed by fire. And dismembering it will only slow it down. So that leaves us… drowning it?"

Angel thought for a moment as the others were looking at the entry. "What about freezing it?"

"Well," Wesley said. "I suppose that would work. How are you planning to do that through? The creature is immensely strong. And I doubt we could trap it in a freezer long enough to kill it."

"Liquid Nitrogen," Angel said. "How good of a shot are you?"

"Well," Wesley said. "I have become rather proficient with a pistol."

"Yo, Angel," Faith said. "You forgetting something? You've got a Slayer right here, and I guarantee that I'm a better shot than Wussley."

"Must you continue to call me that?" Wesley asked.

"Until you do two things," Faith said, "Yes!"

"Stop," Cordelia said, "Look we can talk about thing after we save those women. Wesley, did the book tell you anything that could narrow down where this thing is?"

"No. I'm sorry, Cordelia; the only things the entry focused on were its known strengths," Wesley admitted.

"So how do we find this thing?" Faith asked.

"We could try scrying for it," Amy volunteered.

"Yes," Wesley said, "But to do that we would need a practitioner more powerful than myself."

Xander, Faith, and Amy all started to laugh. "I think we can cover that," Cordelia said. "So how do we scry for something?"

"Well," Wesley began, "There are several different methods to achieve your desires when scrying. Some prefer using a reflection pool, others various crystals. I even have heard of some people drawing the images they are scrying for."

"So, since we don't have time to go take an art class," Cordelia said, "and we are lacking a reflection pool, I guess we need a crystal. What else would we need?"

"When using a crystal, if you have a map to match it to, that would probably work best," Wesley said.

"Fine," Cordelia said. "Angel, grab a map. Wesley do you have a crystal we can use?"

"Just give me one moment and I might have something that would work." Wesley returned to his books and opened several boxes looking for a crystal. Angel went and grabbed a map of LA. By the time Angel returned with the map, Wesley had found a crystal hanging from a leather necklace. "I believe this should work," He said. "If you are able to scry."

Putting the map out on a table Amy, Cordelia, and Faith gathered around it. "OK, either of you know what we should do?" Faith asked.

Amy nodded, "It's going to sound really stupid, but a simple chant while channeling our magic at the crystal should work." Amy quickly wrote down the chant.

Looking at it, Faith said, "You're right, this sounds so bad." Seeing Cordelia about to say something, Faith added, "But I ain't got nothin better."

Together the three witches held the leather strap with the crystal on it and chanted, "The demon has gone to ground, show us where he is to be found." Three times they chanted it with every repetition the crystal glowed brighter and started swinging. On the final word of the third round the crystal pulled itself out of their hands and landed point first on the map. It was still glowing and standing straight up.

"Dear Lord, it worked," Wesley exclaimed.

"So we have an address," Faith said. "Angel you know where to get the liquid nitrogen?"

"Yeah it'll take me about half an hour to get it," Angel said. "We can meet at the address in forty-five minutes." Angel left to get the liquid nitrogen.

"Faith," Wesley asked. "What do I have to do to gain your forgiveness? I realize that my past actions are most likely the cause of how you currently feel towards me. And while I am deeply sorry that I failed you as a Watcher, I would like to make amends."

"Well, at least you've done one of the two things," Faith said. "It's nice for you to say you're sorry for all the shit you helped do. Sweet's says I gotta let go of the bad stuff. So as long as you don't Fuck up like that again, I'm good."

"And what was the second thing I needed to do, to earn your forgiveness," Wesley asked.

"Simple, don't be a waste of space in a fight," Faith said. "No more of that 'A Watcher watches' crap."

"I believe I have been working on that," Wesley said. "Perhaps after tonight you will see the truth that I have changed."

Forty minutes later found Cordelia, Wesley, Xander, and Faith arriving at the warehouse. They had forgotten that Cordelia's car could not really seat five. And Amy knew that she would not be much use in a fight. Cordelia might not be much better, but no one wanted to say anything. Five minutes later, Angel arrived carrying a canister that looked like a propane gas tank.

"So, What's the plan?" Xander asked.

Angel looked at him, "We go in. We fight the demon. We kill the demon."

Xander just shook his head, "Yeah, I would think we could do a little better than that for a plan. How about we have Faith sneak in first. She can scout around then come and tell us what she sees?"

"Demons, usually have very acute senses," Wesley said. "Even with her abilities as a Slayer, it would probably sense her."

"Nah, I got mad skills now Wesley," Faith assured him. "Side if something goes really wrong Boytoy can pull me out." Angel didn't look happy but he decided it was better to wait for the Boy's plan to fail, then he would save everyone.

Faith went to the side of the building with Xander. Once they were out of sight, she said. "So, I go in as Invisible Girl, you'll be tracking me?"

"Yeah," Xander said. "I'm going to do the same thing I do when trying to lock onto someone to orb to. Since it usually gives me some kind of a picture I figure that if something happens I can get to you quickly."

Faith grabbed him, pulling him into a kiss, "For Luck," she said as she faded from view.

Walking into the warehouse, Faith could see that there was a pool of water and almost a dozen very pregnant women standing in it. Walking slowly but steadily Faith searched for the Halix Demon. For something so big, the demon was actually very good at hiding. Faith finally spotted it in a corner watching the women. Since she had the full layout Faith headed back outside.

Faith wasn't surprised that Angel seemed to be arguing with Xander when she came back. Listening she could hear him saying how they needed to go in before Faith was killed. "Yo, Angel," Faith called out. "Chill. I'm here and I know where the demon is."

"How did you get in and out, without them seeing you?" Angel had to ask. Hearing as Faith described the layout of the warehouse he just couldn't see how she had done it. It didn't sound like there was enough cover to sneak in there.

"Not important right now, Angel," Cordelia declared. "So how are we taking the demon out?" she asked.

Xander had been looking everything over. But before he could say anything Angel said, "We split into two teams. I'll come in from the front with the liquid Nitrogen and move towards the demon. Faith and Harris will be with me." He smirked as Xander shook his head. "You and Wesley come in from the other side. Once the canister is by the demon Wesley shoots it, and that should freeze the demon."

"Great plan Deadboy," Xander said sarcastically. "Especially if we want to make sure the women don't make it out alive."

"What, you have a better plan, Harris?" Angel asked.

"Yeah I do," Xander said. "Faith and Cordy go in the side entrance, with the canister. Wesley, you, and I go in the front. We don't try and start a fight, just make as much noise as we can to pull everyone's attention to us. Every minute we're not fighting gives Faith a better chance to get into position. So we need to act like we're some random drunks that just wandered into the building. Not barging in ready to fight."

"That actually makes a great deal of sense," Wesley commented. "My only concern is how Faith will break the canister. Whilst the crossbow should be able to puncture the canister, I believe it would be a good idea if Faith also carries my pistol."

Faith nodded and took the proffered weapon. She carefully checked that the safety was on just like Dad had shown her. She was grateful that one of the first things Jack had done with her was to take her to the base firing range and go through basic gun safety with her. After just an hour of shooting, she was hitting every shot she made in the center of the target. "Thanks, Wesley," Faith said. "I'll get it back to you once we're done."

Wesley nodded, "Think nothing of it, Faith."

Faith and Cordelia went to the side of the building. "So Cordy," Faith said. "Wait here until the others enter. I can stealth in without you much easier."

"Then why did Xander want me to come with you," Cordelia asked.

"Because they don't know about what I can do," Faith smirked. "And you know if he had said I should go alone then we would still be arguing about the plan." Cordelia nodded, she knew Faith was probably right.

Faith and the canister faded from view as Cordelia watched. The side door was slowly opening on its own. Cordelia just stayed still and listened.

Wesley, Angel, and Xander waited until the agreed upon time. Xander grabbed Wesley by the shoulder and started walking towards the door in an imitation drunken stumble. "I'm telling use," Xander slurred. "You're wrong. Beer should never be served warm."

Wesley caught on very quickly as they entered the warehouse. "You bloody Americans," He said in a loud drunken voice. "Beer is always best when it's warm. But what would you know?" Wesley paused and swayed, "I mean, really, you prefer coffee to tea." Wesley blinked his eyes as if he was surprised to see what was in front of him. "Blimey, would you look at that," he said pointing at the group of pregnant women. "Why are all those birds here? Did you know there would be a bunch of pregnant birds here?"

"What birds?" Xander slurred. "I don't, I don't see any birds. You're drunk!"

Angel was behind the two men, not even trying to act like he was drunk. Once Angel spotted the demon he kept a close eye on it. He could see that all of the pregnant women had shifted their attention. They were looking at the three of them. The demon started to get up and move towards them. Suddenly the canister of liquid nitrogen slammed into its chest. This was quickly followed by two shots which ruptured the container, coating the demon in liquid nitrogen. The thing quit moving and froze solid. A third shot rang out as Faith fired for the last time. The bullet hit the demon in its chest and caused it to shatter.

All of the pregnant women fell to the ground. It was as if they were marionettes that had just had their strings cut. While they were moving to check the women, everyone could see that their bellies were shrinking. It was obvious that their pregnancies had just been terminated. The women were all out cold.

"So how are we getting them out of here?" Cordelia asked.

"Got anyone you can call who can come pick all these women up?" Xander suggested.

"If we call in an anonymous tip," Wesley said. "I'm sure the police would be able to assist them in getting home."

Since none of the women looked like they would be waking up soon, everyone got ready to leave. Wesley had found a phone in the warehouse that surprisingly worked. Dialing 911, Wesley attempted to imitate some of Gunn's crew. "Yo," He started out when the emergency operator came on. "There's a whole bunch o'women here. They all be trip'n. I bet they high. You gots to get someone here. Wake their asses up. Don't know why they sleepin'." Wesley dropped the phone without hanging up. Walking outside he got into Angel's waiting car as they drove back to the Hotel.

Amy was waiting for everyone to return. She had been happy to see Gunn show up. Once the introductions were over, she had even convinced him to go pick up the food as long as she was paying. Gunn returned with the Chinese food just before Cordelia, Faith, and Xander arrived.

Smelling the aroma of the food, Faith called out. "Thank God someone was thinking ahead. I could eat a couple of horses."

Gunn smile, "It was all her idea," he said pointing to Amy. "But hey, she offered to pay if I'd grab the grub. So I couldn't turn that deal down. But Damn she ordered enough for an Army. I think we're going to be eating this for days."

Cordelia laughed. "You haven't seen these two eat yet," she said pointing at Faith and Xander. "Trust me, there will be nothing left by the time they're done."

"Barbie," Gunn said, disbelief dripping from his voice. "Ain't no way that these two can eat that much!"

"Want to bet on that?" Cordelia asked with a smile. "How about if I'm right, You'll come down to Sunnydale in a week or so. Maybe get to know some of the people we have there."

"And what do I get when you lose,Barbie?" Gunn asked.

"Not going to lose," Cordelia assured Gunn. "But if it will make you feel better; If I lose, I'll spring for detailing your truck. The works, new tires, tune up everything you could want."

"Oh, you're on," Gunn said. The next hour was a lesson for Gunn. Faith and Xander both ate enough food for three people each. "Damn," Gunn said watching them go back for fourths. "How the hell are you two so skinny?"

Faith smiled, "Perks of the job."

Angel had been brooding, not that this was anything new. But this time, he was brooding about what Cordelia had said earlier. "So Cordelia, you're really not coming back?"

Wesley and Gunn both looked up at that. "Just until you're healed. Right Cordelia? Then you shall return," Wesley said.

Cordelia smiled at both men, "Sorry Wesley, Gunn, but I already told Angel. I've been healed. No more painful visions. But I can't come back here. What we're doing is so much bigger, and I'm a part of it now."

Angel snorted, "Sure, what's more important than saving people here? Hanging out in your new mansion?"

"Mansion," Gunn asked. "Yo Barbie, you got a mansion now?"

Xander looked pissed off. Faith spoke up before Xander could rip Angel apart. "Angel, you might help a few people here. But what we're doing?" She paused, "It's going to change the entire world."

"Like anything Harris was involved in could change the world," Angel said condescendingly. "Please, tell me another!"

"Actually Angel," Wesley broke in. "Xander has already changed the world. By him forcing you to lead him to Buffy when she faced the Master. When he brought her back to life, it changed the world. And his actions since then have only magnified the effects of that act."

Angel looked like he'd been slapped in the face by Wesley's comment. "Harris is a loser. Sure he's been lucky a few times. But anything he's involved in won't end well."

Cordelia had had enough, "You're right," she said, causing everyone to turn to her. "Harris is a loser. Tony Harris is the worst loser in Sunnydale. But he," she said, pointing to Xander, "Is a Giles, not a Harris. And he is as far from a loser as you can get. I don't know what your damage is, Angel. But trying to pick a fight with Xander isn't helping yourself."

"It's really kinda stupid when you think about it," Faith added. "Xander could kill you before you even got close. And if you somehow got lucky and managed to hurt him or kill him. What do you think the rest of us would do to you?"

"Buffy would never come after me," Angel said. He knew that Buffy hadn't really had the heart to try and stop him when Angelus was in charge. So he didn't think she would do anything when he had his soul.

"Say you're right," Amy said. "Buffy doesn't come after you, That still leaves Faith, Giles, Joyce, Tara, Willow, Cordelia and me. And every single one of us; we are witches. We don't even need to be in the same room to destroy you."

"So now you're threatening me," Angel said.

"What are you trip'n on," Gunn asked looking at Angel. "None of them have started shit, why are you wanting a fight? I don't know what you're beef is with him," Gunn pointed to Xander. "But you need to chill the hell out."

"My problem is he comes here and tries to destroy everything I've worked for," Angel yelled. Looking Xander dead in the eye, "Angelus should have killed you that night in the hospital!"

Xander nodded as everyone else gasped. "Only problem is Angelus, and you; have the same problem… You're both cowards. And until you stop trying to do everything to 'earn' redemption, you'll never be anything else."

Angel lunged out of his chair, determined to knock Xander on his ass. Faith intercepted him. She punched him once throwing him back ten feet as he felt his ribs breaking. Pandemonium was rising.

"What the hell," Gunn said.

"That was uncalled for," Wesley responded

"Angel," Cordelia cried out. Xander and Amy were both silent.

"Stay down," Faith said. "You get up and try that again I'll hurt you a hell of a lot worse."

"Get out," Angel said. "I want all of you out of my hotel. Now!" Angel tried to sound threatening but since he was lying halfway on the floor cradling his broken ribs, it didn't come across as very intimidating.

Cordelia looked at Angel, "We'll go. But Xander's right, you will never earn redemption. It will only come when you stop trying to find it." The group was much quieter as they all left Angel alone.

Angel slowly got up after everyone had left. He didn't know why everything was falling apart, but it was easy to see the reason for it. It was all Harris's fault. He went to get some more blood from his refrigerator as he continued to bitch about the unfairness of it all.

Outside, the group looked at each other, "That sucked," Gunn said.

"Yeah," Xander agreed. "Sorry, you got pulled into it."

"I do not believe that was your fault, Xander," Wesley admitted. "Whilst I am not sure what Angel's motives are, I can see that he is the one who has a problem right now."

"So we going to do anything else," Faith asked. "Or did you want to call it a night?"

"I believe I shall bow out," Wesley said. "It might be best to give Angel a day or two before we try to talk to him again."

Cordelia looked at Amy, "So you want to drive back to Sunnydale with me?"

"As long as I'm not stuck in the back seat the whole way, sure," Amy said.

"Faith and I will take the whitelighter express," Xander said. "Call us once you get home," he told Cordelia. "Gunn, Wesley," he nodded to the two men. "It really was good to see you both again. Later." Xander smiled as he and Faith orbed back to Sunnydale.

Warren was tired, tired of hiding, tired of running. And tired of living in a storage locker. He had realized in the past few days, that he was now stronger and faster than ever before. But instead of being able to use his new abilities, he was stuck hiding from the cretins.

"I need to know what's going on," Warren mused. "Who can I talk to that might have a good idea, and wouldn't be missed?" Warren quickly ruled out any of the military personnel. They were actually competent, based on how quickly they had come after him when he had left that intruder in his lab to die. He smiled as he relived the beating he had given the man. "I taught him who was the man."

Warren had an idea. While the Sunnydale PD might be useless they were probably still being kept in the loop. He just needed to talk to the right person and persuade them to tell him what they knew. And Warren knew the perfect person to ask. Growing up in Sunnydale, you learned a few things, like which houses belonged to the cops. Warren was whistling again as he left the storage building to go talk to Detective Stein.

Creeping up on the back of Stein's house, Warren stopped and looked around. Everything was silent. He crossed the detective's back yard and approached his back door. He had his improved heat ray in hand. He hadn't wanted to leave the storage building unarmed. Warren grasped the knob for the backdoor. The thing didn't even have a deadbolt on it. As quietly as he could Warren forced the door open. Once inside he crept towards the stairs. Taking the stairs one at a time, he would pause and listen with every step.

Slowly he opened the door to what he thought was Stein's bedroom. Warren could see the bed in front of him someone was under the covers. But they looked smaller than he thought was right. Moving right up to the bed he reached down to shake Stein awake.

He wasn't sure who was more surprised, the girl in Stein's bed or himself. She looked to be maybe fifteen. And seeing Warren standing over her, she screamed. Warren reached back and hit her, splitting her lip and causing her to fall silent. "Where the fuck is Stein?" Warren demanded.

Warren heard the sound of a gun being cocked back, "Right behind you asshole," Stein said. Spinning around Warren saw that Stein was standing there in boxers a gun pointed at him. Stein laughed, "You thought you could come in here and kill me in my sleep? The Mayor made sure that we had protections in place. I knew you were coming as soon as you stepped into my yard." Stein looked closer at the man, "You're that Mears kid," he smiled. "Well, isn't this great. I'll be sure to be in the clear with the FBI when I turn you in."

Warren snarled, "You're not going to be turning me in. If you put the gun down I'll even let you live." Warren lied, this fat piece of shit was going to die for calling him a kid and making him look like a fool.

Stein looked at Warren, how stupid was this kid? "Well, I think you might have misunderstood. When I said I was going to turn you in, I meant I was going to turn in your corpse." Warren would have been panicking if not for his symbiote. Instead, he pointed his heat ray and fired at Stein just as Stein shot him. Stein's shot hit Warren between the eyes, throwing him back onto the girl. Warren's shot had been off so the improved heat ray hit Stein just above the hip. As Warren's body feel backwards the ray cut across Stein's chest leaving a two-inch deep furrow in his skin. It was only Stein's bad luck that the last place it hit before shutting off was Stein's throat. It seared through his next cauterizing the arteries that supplied the blood to his brain. Stein gasped but couldn't even call out in pain as he fell to the floor.

Warren's body was covering the young teenage girl, she was screaming. Trapped under Warren's body, she tried to kick him off. She was covered in his brains and blood. As she tried to move his body, what was left of his head tilted towards her. This thing started coming out of his mouth. She screamed more as it looked at her and then shot towards her. She was trapped and couldn't move as the thing dived into her mouth. She gagged for a minute, thrashing she tried to get away. Then she felt her muscles locking up. She couldn't move.

"That Fat Fucker shot me!" She heard a voice in her head. "Where am I? What's going on?" The voice asked.

"Who is talking to me," the girl named Lisa asked. "Please don't hurt me. Please, just let me go. I promise I won't say anything."

Lisa was looking at Warren's body wishing she could move but even when trying to move her body was not responding. "Holy Shit that's me," Warren said. Lisa saw her hand reach out and turn the bodies head towards her. There was a small hole right in the forehead and a large exit wound where the hollow point bullet had finished the job. "That Fucker killed me," Warren said. "But I'm not dead." Lisa felt her arm moving up; she saw through her eyes as whoever had taken over her body examined her arm. "What the Fuck?" Warren protested. He looked down and saw a pair of tits. "I'm a chick?" Lisa felt her arms throwing off the body on top of her. Her body stood up. It walked into the bathroom and turned on the light. Lisa felt trapped as her body stood in front of the mirror looking at itself. Suddenly her body started to laugh, her eyes flashed white, and her voice said in a weird tone. " **Everyones going to think I'm dead**!" Her body stopped moving. " **OK, I'm stuck as a chick, for now. But I bet I can figure out how to fix this**."

"Please let me go," Lisa pleased. "Please, I promise I won't say anything."

Warren stopped, " **Who the fuck are you**?"

Lisa could hear herself speaking, she could see her mouth moving. "Please I'm Lisa, Lisa Monroe, and you're in my body somehow. Please let me go."

Warren could see her now. It was like Lisa's life was laid out before him. She was a runaway, that Stein had picked up and threatened to send to jail. Stein had forced her to sleep with him. Warren couldn't believe that he could feel what she had felt as the man screwed her. Stein had kept her here for the last month. He had promised her as long as she serviced him, he would make sure she was ok. And to Lisa, it was better than living on the streets.

Warren was disgusted, disgusted to feel sex from a female perspective, disgusted because it felt so good. Disgusted because he didn't know how he got here. He kept reviewing Lisa's memories and saw when the symbiote left his dead body and entered her body. " **I'm now the symbiote** ," Warren said. " **I need to learn more, but for now** ," Warren started laughing. Lisa's body obeyed, a teenage girl's voice laughing as Warren " **For now Lisa** ," Warren said. " **You belong to me. Don't try to cause any problems and maybe one day I'll find a way to leave you. Cause me any problems and you'll regret it** " Warren made his empty promise. He wasn't sure what was happening, but even if when this body died the symbiote could take another. There was no guarantee that it would be him in control. What if he died that time and Lisa became the new personality? No, Warren knew he needed to research what was going on before he tried anything else. And since Warren Mears was now dead, no one should be looking for him. Warren started whistling as he turned on the shower and stripped off the blood and brain soaked clothes. The future was actually looking very bright for him.

[a]To hell with you!


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

TIMELINE: Before Chapter 11 of SG-1 Comes to Sunnydale.

I have tried to get my line breaks for different parts fo the story to line up. But it is extremely frustrating to see that they do not save correctly. I will not give up though. However, I do want to get this posted so ...

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 28

After leaving Caritas Lilah Morgan hurried back to the office. Walking into the building she was told by the Receptionist that Mr. Manners wanted her to go directly to his office. Lilah nodded as she entered the elevator. The shake-ups were still going on. With the destruction of the Ram by the Wolf, and the fact that the Hart had fled, almost ten percent of the office's population had died. It seemed they had missed one of the contract clauses that allowed the Wolf to collect them early.

Lilah just wished that Lindsay had been one of them. Walking up to Holland's office his secretary told her, "Go right in. He's expecting you." Lilah nodded again, then walked in to face her boss.

"Ah, Lilah," Holland said with his false smile. "I understand your meeting for the Masterson Account ran into problems?"

"Yes, sir," Lilah said. "We met at Caritas per the client's request. Inside there was a group of four talking to the Host. Three women and one man. The man and the woman approached us, making threats to our clients. When I identified myself, they didn't even know who Wolfram and Hart were. I was trying to diffuse the situation when our clients decided they would rather kill both of them. We went outside and the female quickly took out Mr. Masterson's associates. Then when Mr. Masterson pulled a gun the male cast some kind of spell that took the gun and his hand from him. The female then staked Mr. Masterson, she then robbed the two associates before staking them." Lilah paused, "The entire fight took less than one minute. Based on what the female said I believe she may be The Slayer."

"Hmm," Holland said. "If she was the Slayer then it was just stupidity on Masterson's part to challenge her. But I'm more interested in the man. Teleportation is a very difficult spell. And if he was able to do it that quickly, well that speaks of a great deal of power. I understand you were going to obtain some photos of the group?"

"Yes, Sir," Lilah said, pulling out her phone. "I have them here."

"Good, get that down to our investigations group. I want to know who they are; we may be able to bring the man over to our side. And if not, Archduke Sebassis may want to kill him before he gets any more powerful. Anything else to report?"

"I'm not sure," Lilah began. "But I believe one of the women was Cordelia Chase, I've seen her photo before. And I think it's a good possibility that it was her."

"Well, well, well," Holland said. "We know Ms. Chase is from Sunnydale, and she was a known associate of the Slayer and her friends. So tell investigations to compare the photos to the information we have from Sunnydale. Once we are sure of who they are we can decide what we'll do next."

"Yes, sir," Lilah said. "Was there anything else?"

"Yes," Holland said. "Senator Kinsey called earlier. He's upset that we haven't been able to get him any more information on what is happening with the British. I want you to follow up on that as well. Remember, with the loss of so many people there is now the possibility that you could make partner much sooner than expected. If you don't screw up."

Lilah nodded, "Understood, sir." Lilah quickly left Holland's office to get back to work.

Today was weird, Jack had to admit as he looked in front of him, this was a first. He had gotten a call about the Unicorn found? Born? Created? He wasn't sure what the right word was, but in front of him was the Unicorn, easily eighteen hands high, with a silver horn and its tail and mane were white. They had tried to block it in with vehicles, but the thing just climbed over them. They ended up using large trucks to keep it contained.

Jack approached a Sergeant who was standing nearby, "What can you tell me about this thing?" he asked pointing to the Unicorn.

The Sergeant saluted, and once Jack returned the salute said, "Sir, she's not a horse that's for sure."

"Well, the horn kinda proves that," Jack said.

"Not just the horn sir," the Sergeant continued. "When she showed her teeth, it was obvious that she's a meat eater. Also, her hooves are more like claws than a horse's hooves. She's a predator, probably uses the horn to spear her prey, then the claws and teeth to rip it apart."

"OK," Jack said. "So she could literally bite your hand off."

The Sergeant laughed, "Sir, any horse could do that. But she'd enjoy it."

Jack could see that the Unicorn was gathering a crowd. Even with all the weird that he and his team regularly faced, a unicorn was something new. As Jack watched the crowd he saw Tara pulling Willow towards the unicorn. She was smiling and excitedly pointing at it. The Unicorn, for the most part, had just been preening, it was almost as if it liked seeing all the people admiring it. When it saw Willow, the Unicorn reared back, letting out a loud cry.

"Rosenberg!" Harmony yelled. Coming back down on all four feet she rushed over towards Willow. "Rosenberg, you had better tell me what's going on! I know you always know about the freaky stuff so tell me or, or I'll do something to you!"

Everyone was stunned, the Unicorn talked. And it knew Willow, and it seemed well stupid, was the nicest way to describe it. "Ah," Willow said. "How do you know my name?"

"Geeze," Harmony said. "Mental much, Rosenberg?" Harmony tossed her head. "We've only gone to school together since kindergarten. And while you and your loser friends might have been, ah losers. I wasn't, So you better tell me what happened or I'll, I'll do something to you!" Once again Harmony was unable to come up with a good threat.

Jack had walked over and hearing what the Unicorn said, turned to Willow. "You know this thing?"

Willow shook her head, "I promise I've never seen a Unicorn before. I mean even for Sunnydale that would be hard to miss."

"As If," Harmony snorted. "Everyone always noticed me, because I was one of the prettiest girls in school!"

Willow was looking at the Unicorn, it really seemed familiar, "You know if I didn't know she was dead, and a Vampire I would swear this thing acts just like Harmony."

"Well Duh," Harmony said. "Of course I'm Harmony!"

Willow looked at the Unicorn. "Ah, Harmony died at graduation. And then she became a vampire. So you can't be Harmony."

"Whatever," Harmony said. "Yeah I remember Graduation and dying. Then I was in a really boring place. But then I woke up in the weird place and couldn't find my way out. Then I saw the unicorn and found out it was me. But I remember being a vampire too, And following Auntie around so we could rescue Blondie Bear. But the demon killed me! And I didn't think I'd get to be a Unicorn but now I am one. And I am Sooo Pretty. But I want my Auntie, so find her for me, Rosenberg!"

Jack looked at Willow, "Did you understand that?"

Willow shook her head, "Not really, but then intelligent conversation wasn't something Harmony could ever do."

"Hey," Harmony protested, "That's not nice to say!"

Willow snorted, "Since when was Harmony Kendall every worried about being nice?"

"Hey," Harmony protested again. "I was always nice to people who mattered. Just not to you and your loser friends, or any of the other geeks, freaks, or nerds in high school."

"OK," Willow said, "Now I'm really starting to believe that this is Harmony."

"I already told you I was," Harmony said. "Now you better get my Auntie here, otherwise she'll punish you. Because she loves me and she'll always be there to take care of me!"

"Ah, Harmony?" Tara said. "Who's your Auntie? I'm sorry but we don't know her."

Harmony snorted, "Auntie Drusilla," she said, "She loves me so much, and even when she had to punish me it was only because she loves me." Harmony was shaking her horse like head up and down as she spoke.

Willow sucked in a loud breath, "Drusilla!" Willow screamed. "You want us to find that crazy, psycho vampire for you? Are you nuts?" Willow kept ranting, "Of course you're nuts! You're Harmony Fucking Kendall! The only original thought you ever had was on figuring out who to follow. But Drusilla? I mean really even Cordelia at her worst was better than Drusilla."

"Hey," Yelled Harmony. "You can't talk about my Auntie that way! She's the best, and she loves me, she promised if I was a good girl that I could be a Unicorn. And even though I wasn't perfect she still made me a Unicorn. And I want my AUNTIE!" Harmony was now over six feet tall at her shoulder. With the bulk and power of her new body, everyone backed up as she brought both claws down after her rearing up. She was probably close to sixteen hundred pounds, and all of that meant she was very scary right now.

Jack pulled out his Zat, "Everybody back up," he called out.

As everyone pulled back you could hear Harmony starting to cry, tears were falling from her eyes, "Please Willow, please, I miss Auntie, please find her for me?" Harmony begged.

"OK, Harmony," Willow said. "I can try, but I don't even know where to start looking."

Harmony shook her head, "Well Africa, duh!"

"Why would Drusilla be in Africa?" Willow asked.

"Because that's where the wishing demon was," Harmony said as if that should explain everything. Harmony looked at Willow who was obviously not getting it. "Auntie said that Blondie Bear was going to fight the wishing demon and once he won, we would all get our rewards. And she promised that I could be a unicorn. Because I didn't want to be a tiger like they were going to be. I wanted to be a unicorn."

"Ah," Willow asked, "Why were they going to be tigers, and are they now tigers like you're a Unicorn?"

Harmony looked at the stupid nerd. "Auntie said kitten was now a tiger. And that they needed to be tigers so he wouldn't kill us. And she promised that I could visit the Princesses Courts. There's the Princess of Winter and the Princess of Summer. And Auntie said we would visit them and have cake."

Jack pulled Willow aside, "Uh, why are you listening to the crazy talking unicorn?"

"Because," Willow explained. "Her Auntie is Drusilla the Mad. She's a vampire seer. She's probably one of the most dangerous vampires we ever met, and one fo the few to get away every time. Drusilla can see the future, and then decide what she wants to do about it. If she wasn't totally psycho she'd be even more dangerous."

"I through all vampires were psycho?" Jack said.

Willow shook her head, "Not like this. Angelus tortured her for months when she was human. He slowly killed her entire family, then on the day she took her vows to become a nun, he turned her. She's a whole nother level of crazy. Every time she sees Xander she calls him her kitten…" Willow stopped, "Oh, oh, oh, this is bad."

"What's wrong Willow," Jack asked.

Xander is Drusilla's kitten," Willow said. "And Harmony said Drusilla said he turned into a tiger. And that Drusilla and probably Spike were going to become tigers too." Jack looked like he was still putting pieces together. "Xander became a half Whitelighter or a full Furling I don't know. But what if Drusilla wanted to do the same thing? If Drusilla and Spike had Xander's powers this is BAD!"

Now that Jack could understand, "OK, I get it. But you need to calm down," Jack said. "From the sounds of it, whatever was going to happen has already happened. So we can't stop it. Now we need to know what else could happen. Do you think Drusilla will come after you guys?"

Willow shook her head, "Spike pretty much fixated on two people, Buffy and Drusilla. Drusilla was only interested in Xander and her Daddy."

"Ah," Jack started to ask.

"Angelus was her daddy," Willow said. "She calls Angel not-daddy. So we probably need to let Xander know."

Willow looked like she was going to panic. "Calm down," Jack said. "First thing to do is gather information, then make sure the right people have it. So why don't you find out as much as you can from Harmony? Then we can all meet and figure out what we need to share."

Willow nodded, "OK, that's a good idea." Willow smiled, "Thanks, Jack." Willow spent the next hour trying to talk to Harmony. After an hour she had listened to as much as she could. Willow couldn't take anymore and had to leave. Harmony was much calmer but still wanted her Auntie.

"That was a huge waste of time," Willow said to Tara as they were leaving.

"Was she that bad when she was human?" Tara had to ask.

"Actually I think that this is an improvement," Willow said.

Tara could only say, "Oh my," in response. Willow nodded as the two girls went to find Jonathan.

Andrew was done with Warren. From now on he was the master! When Andrew had woken up this morning, looking at where he was living he knew it wasn't befitting a Sith Lord. But he also knew he needed to keep to the shadows until he was ready to rule the world. "I need to find an apprentice," Andrew said. "But who? The traitor is out. He betrayed me. And I wouldn't want to give him this kind of power." Andrew considered the mission Warren had given him. "It's almost like the force was guiding Warren, it knew that I would need an apprentice, once Warren was gone."

As Andrew recalled the mission he remembered Zack. " **Yes, he would make an excellent Apprentice!** " Andrew said. Searching through his pockets Andrew found Zack's number. Pulling it out he called him. "Zack," He said when Zack answered. "This is Andrew… We met the other day at the comic shop… I was hoping you'd be available to meet up… Well, I think you're pretty cool… No really, and not many people in Sunnydale get it… Yeah, we can meet for lunch… And if you'd like I can show you my collection… That'd be great, yeah see you then." Andrew hung up and started laughing, soon he would have his apprentice.

Looking around the house, Andrew decided that it actually wasn't bad. And it had the benefit of being anonymous. Andrew headed out to his old house to collect his things. This would be a good enough place for now.

Andrew spent several hours gathering his stuff. Tucker never showed up, which was lucky for Tucker. Because Darth Andrecus, Dark Lord of the Sith would no longer allow Tucker to bully him! Once everything was in the van, he went to meet Zack.

Andrew parked at UC Sunnydale and got out of the car. Walking toward the quad Andrew looked for Zack. He saw him sitting on a bench. "Zack, good to see you again," Andrew said with a smile.

"Yes," Zack said. Zack still wasn't sure how he should be acting, but his normal social problems didn't seem to bother Andrew. "I'm pleased you called. So you're going to show me your collection?"

"Of course," Andrew said. "It's all back at my new house. You should come with me, we can eat and talk."

"Alright," Zack said. "But I do have to come back after lunch."

"No problem," Andrew said, leading Zack towards his van. "It's going to blow your mind," he promised.

As the two men were walking towards the van, Caitlin Todd was walking close enough to recognize Zack. Honestly, she thought the squint was a little creepy, using Booth's phrase. But he seemed to be a really good lab tech. It was only once she was almost a hundred yards away, that it hit her. The other man Zack was talking to had been Andrew Wells. Turning she raced back to the parking lot. She saw a black van leaving even as she reached her car. Unlocking the door she got in to follow them.

Hitting the speed dial on her phone she called Gibbs, "Gibbs," she said once he picked up. "I just saw Andrew Wells… He was with that Zack guy from the Jeffersonian… I'm trying to follow them now… Yes, I'll stay back until they stop… hopefully, he can lead us to Mears… OK, I'll call you as soon as they stop." Caitlin hung up the phone. She knew Gibbs would already be heading into Sunnydale.

Andrew pulled into the garage at his new house. Getting out of the van he closed the garage door and invited Zack inside. He didn't notice Agent Todd parking across the street, as he led Zack inside.

Caitlin parked the car and called Gibbs. Once she had given the address she got out of her car and circled around the back of the house hoping to see what was going on inside. As she approached the back door, she heard Zack scream, "Keep that thing away from me!"

Caitlin rushed the back door, which wasn't locked. Opening the door she saw Andrew Wells, his eyes were glowing white and he was holding a Goa'uld symbiote. **Join me Zack,** " Andrew said. " **Together we will rule the universe, as the Master and his Apprentice! You can not deny the power of the force!** "

Andrew was moving towards Zack, Caitlin yelled out, "Federal Agent, put your hands in the air and stop moving."

Andrew turned to Caitlin, " **Put down your pitiful weapon! I am Darth Andrecus, Lord of the Sith, you can not defeat me!** " Andrew started to move towards Caitlin.

"Freeze," Caitlin yelled out. "I will shoot you if you do not stop moving!" Andrew ignored her and kept coming towards her. Caitlin fired shooting him in the leg.

Andrew didn't even stop, " **You dare to try and harm a Lord of the Sith,** " he said as he kept coming towards Caitlin. " **I find your lack of faith disturbing, now you shall pay with your life!** "

Caitlin knew she had to change tactics. The leg wound wasn't even slowing him down. Andrew was less than a foot away and she shot him in the chest. He slowed down but was still trying to get to her. She fired again, at point blank range, into his head. Andrew fell to the floor releasing the symbiote. Caitlin didn't even see it because she was staring at the dead man on the floor.

Zack had gotten up, "You killed him," he said.

Caitlin nodded as she leaned down feeling the adrenaline starting to wear off, "I hope so…"

The symbiote sensing a host reared back and struck. Caitlin screamed as it burrowed into her neck. Zack saw what had happened and rushed to help Caitlin. She had fallen down right beside Andrew. Zack grabbed a towel from the kitchen counter to use on Caitlin. It might not be the most sanitary, but it should help stop the bleeding. He knelt down beside her to start applying pressure to her wound. As he was holding her neck the towel pressed to her side Zack heard a hissing sound. Turning his head he saw another symbiote, it was wet and glistening from where it had emerged from Andrews corpse. Zack started to scream as primal fear took over. The symbiote launched itself at him as the door was busted in.

Gibbs knew something would go wrong, Todd was alone without backup. Gibbs had gathered the on duty MP's and two of the Free Jaffa who were available. As they were leaving Teal'c called out to the Jaffa. By now everyone knew that Warren Mears was most likely a Goa'uld. Teal'c grabbed two more Jaffa and a driver to join them.

Arriving at the address Gibbs saw Caitlin's car. He heard a shot from inside the house. "Move it," Gibbs ordered. The MP's rushed the front door. The first MP at the door kicked the frame. The door splintered but didn't give, the second kick opened the door. Gibbs was the first one in the door, he saw Caitlin was on the floor covered in blood, one of the Jeffersonians people was kneeling beside her. A blood-soaked towel in his hands as he held it against a wound. He was screaming as the symbiote, launched itself at him. Gibbs watched in horror as the thing entered the man.

Zack was still screaming as the MPs, Agent Gibbs and the Jaffa surrounded him. Then he heard a voice, " _Ouch, that hurt!_ Zack continued to scream.

Gibbs went to move closer. Teal'c was right beside him. As they reached Zack Teal'c called out, "Special Agent Gibbs, You must be careful. I can sense the presence of Goa'uld." Teal'c hadn't been inside to see the symbiote enter Zack.

"Yeah," Gibbs said. "I saw one enter him," he pointed to Zack.

"Jaffa Kree," Teal'c called out. The Jaffa in the room all armed their Zat'nik'tel and had them pointed at Zack.

Andrew had had enough, this screaming had to stop. " **Shut up,** " he commanded. Zack found he couldn't scream anymore. " **That is soo much better,** ," Andrew said.

All around Andrew, everyone was pointing a weapon at him. They had heard the Goa'uld speaking. Andrew looked at them, his eyes glowing. " **I am Darth Andrecus, Lord of the Sith! Your primitive weapons are no match for my powers!** "

Gibbs might have laughed if the situation was not so screwed up. Teal'c looked at the Goa'uld, "You are a Goa'uld. You have no power. Just as all the False Gods, you lie and deceive. We will find a way to free your host, from you domination." Teal'c declared.

" **Ha,** ," Andrew said. " **The Force kept me alive! I am destined to rule! Bow down before Darth Andrecus, Lord of the Sith!** "

Teal'c zat sparked and he fired at Andrew. Looking at the situation Gibbs called for a medic while the MPs secured Andrew. As Andrew was taken outside Teal'c looked at Caitlin, "Special Agent Gibbs, I am sorry, but your friend is also a Goa'uld."

"We'll take them both to the Tok'ra," Gibbs said. "Hopefully it's like the one in Hodgins." Teal'c nodded. He didn't want to destroy Gibbs' hope before they could be sure.

Once everyone was back at the Initiative, Gibbs had Kelmaa sent for. Kelmaa arrived and once she had heard what was going on, she left to get the drug that would suppress the symbiote. Before she returned Andrew had woken up. Caitlin was still asleep.

" **Fool's,** ," Andrew said. " **I am Darth Andrecus, Lord of the Sith. Release me at once or suffer my wrath.** "

Bones approached Zack's body, "Mr. Addy," she said. "From what we understand you are still aware of what is going on. We will free you from the Goa'uld."

Zack was trapped in his mind, although he found Andrews outbursts to be illogical, he didn't find his situation to be too stressful. "You know she's right," he said to Andrew. "You're not a Sith. The symbiote is a species called the Goa'uld. The Tok'ra are the same species and they know how to extract you from my body."

"No way," Andrew said. "Everything that's happened has been because the Force wanted me to become a Sith Lord. Even before I got shot I could hear the force whispering to me."

"That was most likely the symbiote," Zack said. "Kelmaa thought that the symbiotes would assimilate the personalities and knowledge of their hosts since they didn't have one. You aren't Andrew Wells anymore, you're the symbiote who absorbed his knowledge and personality."

"You are so wrong," Andrew insisted. "And you better shut up now!" Zack tried to say something more but it felt like he was being walled off. Zack decided to wait, he knew that the Tok'ra would fix this.

Kelmaa returned with the drug, approaching Zack's body she said, "I am Kelmaa or the Tok'ra, you will drink this so that we may converse with your host."

Andrew could feel the woman in front of him, " **You're a Jedi, aren't you. I can feel you. I won't drink that, you won't poison me!** "

" **If you refuse to drink, we will administer it the drug anally** ," Kelmaa informed Andrew. " **You would not enjoy the side effects of the drug when it is administered in that form.** "

" **Do your worst Jedi, you will never break me,** " Andrew declared. Kelmaa shook her head and called two of the Jaffa over so that they could hold Andrew down while she administered the drug. Andrew screamed as the suppository was inserted. But the Jaffa had enough strength to hold him still. After several minutes Kelmaa asked Zack, " **What is your name?** "

"Zack Addy," Zack replied. Turning to Bones he said, "I'm sorry Dr. Brennan, I didn't know this was going to happen."

"Understandable, Mr. Addy," Bones said. "However, I am sure that the Tok'ra will be able to free you."

" **Please tell us about the symbiote,** " Kelmaa asked.

"He doesn't know he's a symbiote," Zack said. "I don't think he or Warren had any idea about what was really down here. I can see his memories, they thought the symbiotes were designed to make super soldiers. And I don't think Andrew had a very good grasp on reality, to begin with. Looking at his memories he seemed to have trouble separating reality and fiction."

" **So the symbiote is insane,** ," Kelmaa said.

"I'm not sure," Zack replied. "I think Andrew might have been insane, but would the symbiote have the same problems? Could it learn the difference between reality and fiction?"

"Mr. Addy," Bones said. "I do not think that matters. Right now we need to see about removing it from you. And I doubt it will ever get the chance to learn anything else. From what the Tok'ra have said it is hard enough for them to find willing hosts, I do not believe they will find someone who wishes to host a mentally unbalanced symbiote."

"So you're going to kill him then," Zack asked.

"It's the logical outcome," Bones agreed. "I suppose that the could return him to a holding tank where he could swim, but I do not believe they would ever allow him to obtain a host."

"Is there anything you can do so that he wouldn't be able to control me," Zack asked. "Without removing him?"

" **You wish to continue as his host,** ," Kelmaa asked.

"I liked Andrew, we had things in common," Zack admitted. "If you could keep him from always controlling me then I'd like to try and help him."

"Are you certain this isn't the Goa'uld speaking?" Bones asked Kelmaa.

"Yes," Adriana replied. "I myself have experienced the drug before. Once it has been administered the symbiote is incapable of taking control."

"Then I can only conclude that somehow during the process of being taken as a host, Mr. Addy's thought process has been damaged," Bones stated.

"My thought process is fine, Dr. Brennan," Zack insisted. "But I can see Andrew's life before all of this happened. We had so many things in common. And when he first approached me he had a real desire to be friends. Would you abandon Angela if our places were reversed?"

"Angela," Bones began, "Is not mentally unstable. I do not believe your analogy is pertinent to the situation."

"Still," Zack insisted, "It is my body, I believe it should be my choice."

"Even if it would cost you your life here on Earth," Bones asked.

"Yes," Zack answered.

" **The Host has the right to choose** ," Kelmaa said. " **We can construct a device that will indicate whether the host or the symbiote is in charge of the body. The Tollan use a similar device when dealing with the Goa'uld or ourselves. Although the fact that the host can see the memories of the symbiote is interesting. None of my own hosts have ever been able to do that. Is this the results of the alterations that were done to the symbiote, or something unique to the Host?** "

"If that thing is still in him he will be placed under constant guard," Gibbs said.

" **We would be willing to offer him a place with the Tok'ra** ," Kelmaa said.

"Then that's decided," Zack said. "But please make the device, I want Dr. Brennan to know when it is me talking."

" **I hope you are correct in your views on this symbiote** ," Kelmaa said. " **However, if you find you can not stay on Earth the Tok'ra will allow you a place with us.** "

"I don't feel so well," Zack said, if he hadn't been restrained he would have grasped his stomach.

" **Yes, I am sorry but you are experiencing the unfortunate side effects. For the next twenty-four hours, the pain will continue. Even the symbiote will be unable to suppress the sensations.** " Kelmaa said.

"Oh God," Zack said as he had an explosive discharge from his bowels. The fact that he was strapped down allowed everyone to back up from the noxious mass that now soiled his gurney. "I apologize, Dr. Brennan," Zack said as he gasped in pain. "Perhaps it might be better to put me in one of the cells here? That way it can be hosed down afterward."

"Excellent Idea, Mr. Addy," Bones said. "I will have the Jaffa take you to a cell." Two of the Jaffa under Teal'c direction took Zack to one of the Initiatives holding cells.

"I believe we should attempt to wake up Agent Todd," Bones said.

One of the nurses approached Caitlin and gently woke her up. Looking around she spotted Gibbs, "Gibbs," she said as she recalled the last few minutes with confronting Andrew Wells. "One of the symbiotes is in me."

"I know Caitlin," Gibbs said. "You're going to need to drink the drug so we can find out if you're still you."

Caitlin nodded, "Give it to me." Once Caitlin had drunk the drug, Kelmaa went through the questions again. It all showed that the symbiote had no separate consciousness at this time.

"One case is not enough to create a hypothesis," Adriana said. "However, it does appear that these Goa'uld are imprinting their base personalities from their first host. If that continues to be the case, the Tok'ra would like to petition the Tau'ri for assistance in finding suitable hosts for these symbiotes. If they blended with the right people it would be of great assistance to our cause."

"I can understand that," Bones said. "May I ask why the Tok'ra have not created clone bodies to use for hosts?" Kelmaa and Adriana looked shocked. "A clone with no personality would provide the same mobility and use that you currently get from a host, without the need to displace anyone."

"Dr. Brennan," Adriana said. "Honestly, I don't think any of the Tok'ra have ever considered clones to resolve the shortage of hosts. But for many of the Tok'ra, I believe they would be lonely without the host sharing themselves." " **Still your idea has merit,** " Kelmaa said. " **Better to be alone in a host than to be without a host. I will forward your idea to the Tok'ra high council.** "

"Would you also build the devices you told Zack about?" Bones asked. "I believe we should have one for Hodgins and Agent Todd as well."

" **Certainly,** " Kelmaa said as she left to go back to her lab.

Lilah received the call from the investigations group in the early evening. She had them send up everything they had found opening the folder she read all the information available. "Hm," She thought, "So the girl was a Slayer. Which means we had a Slayer, a Seer, a Witch and whatever you are, Alexander Harris. According to our records, you were the only one among the original Slayers group that was not gathering power to yourself. Why was that?"

Lilah decided to talk to Holland. Reaching his office, she ignored the secretary as she entered. "Lilah," Holland said with a frown. "There had better be a damn good reason for you to interrupt me during my afternoon massage." Holland was currently lying naked on a table, a twenty-something attractive woman was giving him a full body massage.

"Holland," Lilah said, showing no outward sign of disgust at his naked body. "The investigation unit got back to me. But something is not adding up. I want permission to go to the Black room, to find out what is missing."

"The Black room, Lilah?" Holland smiled. "You realize if this does not pay off you're going to take her place," Holland pointed at the girl. "Fine, I'll grant you permission."

Lilah nodded and left Holland to his 'Massage'. Heading towards the main elevators she waited for one of the cars. When one arrived there were two low-level employees inside. "Get out," Lilah commanded. Both of them had been at Wolfram and Hart long enough to know better than to argue. Once the doors closed Lilah pushed the button sequence to reveal the button for the Black room. The elevator felt like it was going down and up at the same time. The bell dinged and the doors opened.

Lilah stepped into the Black room. Walking forward she saw the little girl standing there waiting for her. "What do you want, Ms. Morgan?" the girl asked.

"Alexander Harris," Lilah said. "Something is wrong with our information on him. I saw him do a spell earlier today. But our Investigations unit doesn't show he does any magic."

"Alexander Harris does not exist," the little girl said. "You don't even know the right questions to ask. Would you like to play a game to learn the questions?"

This was a first for Lilah. The Black room always had answers. Lilah really did not want to play any games with the little girl. She knew that this was no more a little girl than she was a saint. But she also didn't want to end up servicing Holland Manners. "What are the terms of your game?" Lilah asked.

"Very good Lilah," the little girl smiled. "Five minutes, for five minutes I get to ' **Play** ' with you. At the end of five minutes, I'll tell you what you want to know."

Lilah nodded, _I can handle five minutes_ , she thought. "Agreed, you can play with me for five minutes and after that, you tell me what I need to know."

The little girl laughed, "Well played ms. Morgan. Agreed." Reaching up the little girl sunk her hands into Lilah's skull. "I'm going to enjoy this Lilah, you only made one mistake. We didn't agree to where the five minutes would be measured." Lilah didn't even have time to panic before the pain started.

Ira and Sheila Rosenberg finally arrived in LA. It had taken quite a bit of maneuvering to arrange their flights back from Europe, but soon they would be in Sunnydale. They had picked up the rental car since their car was hopefully sitting at the Sunnydale airport. Driving through the LA evening traffic helped remind them of why they never drove to LA. By the time they were clear of the traffic it was already dark outside.

Ira was silent as he drove. He didn't want to show how worried he was. He knew some might think poorly of how often that he and Sheila had left Willow alone, but he truly believed it would only strengthen her. His own mother had had to leave him alone for long periods of time when he was growing up. Being a single mother in the fifties was not an easy thing. Being a single Jewish mother was even harder in his opinion. She had never told him the name of his father. Only that he would always be with him. If Ira had to guess, he was positive that his father was either named Ira or Benjamin. It made perfect sense with how his mother thought things through.

He was also sure that his Father must have died in Korea. The timing made sense, if his Father had been drafted and died before he got home, it would explain why his mother never wanted to speak to him about it. Even after his mother died and he looked through her things he was never able to find out who his father had been.

His mother struggled to provide for him; when he was accepted into medical school, she was so proud of him. He had wished she could have lived to see him graduate, and marry Sheila. Willow never knew her grandmother but he saw his mother in her. The both had the same fiery determination to do whatever they set their minds to. And Willow had his mother's eyes.

"She'll be alright, Ira," Sheila said. "She's a good strong girl. She'll be alright."

Ira snorted, he didn't want to argue with his wife. "I'll believe it when I see it, Sheila," Ira said. "Until then I'll wait." As a psychologist, Ira was familiar with the models of grief and kept finding himself wanting to bargain with God. Being a man who had doubted the very existence of God for most of his adult life made him feel very uncomfortable.

Ira was surprised when ten miles outside of Sunnydale he saw a military group signally him to pull over. The road was blocked; you had to go through the checkpoint security before they would let you drive into Sunnydale. Ira didn't know why the guards had mirrors on poles that they were constantly looking at. He thought it looked like the devices used at border crossings to check under vehicles.

The guard was efficient. Once he had Ira and Sheila's names and address he explained to them that while there was no enforced curfew they requested that everyone be in at Sundown unless there was a pressing need. Ira nodded, but if Willow wasn't at home, he planned on checking her dorm room and then the hospital and to hell with the time.

Arriving home Willow's parents quickly determined that Willow wasn't there and went to check her dorm room. No one in the dorms could remember seeing her in the last week either. Sheila gripped his hand, her nails drawing blood. Ira simply nodded as he went back to the car with her and headed to Sunnydale Hospital.

Reaching the admitting room for the emergency room, Ira looked around for someone who could help him. Sunnydale at night had minimal staff, so the emergency room was the only part open to the public. Looking around he didn't see any doctors. He did see an older nurse, well she was at least his age. Approaching her he said, "Excuse me, Nurse," he pause reading her name tag. "Nurse Nakahara, my wife and I were trying to find out if our daughter had been admitted in the last few days."

Nurse Kelley looked at the man, he reminded her of someone, but she couldn't quite place it. "What was your daughter's name? I'd be happy to help."

"Thank you," Ira said. "Willow Rosenberg, she's nineteen and a student at UC Sunnydale."

Nurse Kelley looked at him. "Willow isn't a patient, she was in here earlier this week when her friend Xander was admitted. He was in a coma for almost a day, and she or Buffy were here constantly. But she hasn't come in since then."

"Are you sure?" Sheila asked. She wasn't sure how this woman knew her daughter but she still wanted to double, or triple check.

Kelly smiled, "Trust me, I know all the good work those three do. If any of them had been admitted I would have been told about it."

Ira nodded, "Thank you, Nurse Nakahara. If by some reason you do see Willow or any of her friends please let her know that her parents are trying to find her."

Kelly nodded, "Normally for Sunnydale, I would be worried if someone was missing, but Willow and her friends are some of the truly good ones. I'm sure they are fine. If I see any of them I will pass your message on."

Ira and Sheila left, as they approached the car, Ira said, "We'll check at Xander's house; maybe he'll know where she is." Driving home they stopped at the Harris house. There was a light on inside. Knocking on the door Ira waited patiently; eventually Tony Harris opened the door.

"What the Hell do you want?" Tony slurred at him.

"Mr. Harris," Ira said. "I'm sorry to bother you but could I speak with your son, Xander?"

"Fuck you," Tony said. "I don't have a son. The bitch lied to me for years. Said the bastard was mine. I had to feed the little shit, put a roof over his head, along with his no good slut of a mother. Then he announces he's a bastard. The fucker broke my hand. Threatened he'd have me killed if I didn't let the bitch go. I haven't seen him or his whore of a mother since that night so Fuck Off." Tony slammed the door in Ira's face.

Ira returned to the car, "Well, Xander's not here. Do you know where Willow's friend Buffy lives?"

"It's Bunny, dear," Sheila said with a smile.

"Not now, Sheila," Ira said, but he was smiling. "How long do you think it will take before Willow finally corrects you on her name?"

"Frankly I've almost lost hope," Sheila admitted. "You would think after four years she would have stood up and told me I was wrong. Still, I believe I have Joyce's address at home. We can try to go over there once we find it."

Ira nodded and drove quickly home. Sheila quickly found the address for Joyce Summers and the two headed to the Summers house, hoping that they would have word about Willow.

All of the Scoobies were gathered at the Summers home. Cordelia and Amy were the last to arrive as they had driven back from LA. Information was passed to one another as everyone sat back to eat. Amy, Cordelia, Faith and Xander took the first turn, telling what had happened in LA, how the meeting with the Host had gone. When Giles and Joyce heard that the Host had called Cordelia the new Clotho, both of them were shocked.

"Did this Lorne have any idea on how this happened?" Giles asked.

"He said that a powerful Bard had influenced what was going on," Xander admitted. "But while he could see the Bard he didn't know his name."

"A Bard? You can't be serious," Giles said.

"Why, Giles?" Buffy asked. "I mean aside from the Romeo and Juliet guy what's so big about a Bard?"

Giles sighed, "While Shakespeare is often referred to as 'The Bard' he was not an actual Bard. According to myth and lore, a true Bard held immense power. Their powers centered around speaking, or singing. They could invoke, unite, provoke, deter and bind others."

"Ah," Xander has to ask, "What exactly does that mean? It sounds impressive, but what does it really mean?"

"The power to invoke could be used on other powers to persuade them to grant aid to the Bard's cause. The power to unite bound the people together. The power to provoke would be used against the Bard's enemies causing them to make foolish choices. Deter, the Bard could stop a fight before it began. And bind, this power when combined with any of the others was capable of miracles. In tales, it could alter the fabric of the world." Giles explained and continued, "It is imperative that we find out who the Bard is. We can only hope that he is on our side."

Amy tried, she really did. Xander had asked them all not to spill the beans about Giles. But this was too funny. Giles was freaking out about who the Bard might be and it was him. She started to laugh, just as she thought she had it under control Giles said, "Really Amy, this is no laughing matter. The danger whoever the Bard is entails can not be stressed enough." She lost it again.

Xander looked at Amy with disgust, "Amy how could you," he asked. "All you had to do was wait a few days. But no you can't keep a straight face."

Faith and Cordelia had started to laugh as well. "You can't really blame her Duffus," Cordelia said. "I mean really," Cordelia waved her hand in Giles direction.

"She's right, Boytoy," Faith snickered.

"I say," Giles said. "If this is some kind of a joke, I will be very upset! Xander tell me what is going on right now."

"Fine," Xander said. "We already know who the Bard is. Lorne didn't recognize him. But when he described him we did."

"Well who is he?" Willow asked.

"Older guy, looks to be maybe in his thirties," Xander began. "And Lorne said the image of him made him think that the Bard was always cleaning his glasses." Everyone quickly got it. Buffy, Willow, and Tara all stared at Giles as Buffy started to laugh.

"Dear Lord," Giles said. "Do you mean to tell me that my Talent as a witch is Bardic?" Giles sat down. Even if the children didn't understand, he did. He knew if this was true he had access to an immense power.

"Well Rupert," Joyce said. "It fits you. Historically Bards were charged with preserving knowledge and fighting the evils that attacked their people. Giving advice, finding important people or heroes, then training them. It sounds like all of your watcher training, doesn't it?"

"And I've heard you sing before, Dad," Tara added. "So you've got that part down too."

"Yes, I suppose you're right Joyce, Tara," Giles conceded. Turning to Xander he glared at him, "And how long were you planning on keeping this to yourself?"

"Hey," Xander said. "I just wanted to set up a performance first. I figured it would be good to see you play for a crowd before you knew the truth. I was going to talk to Jack about setting something up at the base tomorrow."

"Yes, I think for now we will forgo that until I have had a chance to see how my talent affects people," Giles sighed. "I must have been unconsciously using the talent when I helped Cordelia, and it may also have affected our new allies."

"Which ones?" Buffy asked.

"All of them," Giles said. "If I was using the ability to Unite, I may have influenced them to do more than they originally would have."

"But you didn't force them to do anything right?" Tara asked.

"No it doesn't work like that," Giles said. "I shall have to do some more research to see what else I can find. But right now I believe the most that would have done is make them more inclined to help us."

"Giles," Willow said, "Does that mean if you ever ran for public office you could basically convince most people to vote for you?"

"Only if they were slightly inclined to do so in the first place," Giles said. "If they were at all favorable to a Bard, the Bard would be able to persuade them to his cause. That is one of the reasons Bards were both feared and revered as kings."

"What else happened today?" Joyce asked.

Willow shared the news that Harmony Kendall appeared to have become a carnivorous unicorn. She also told everyone about how Harmony wanted her Auntie, who was actually Drusilla. And that Drusilla and Spike had gone to Africa to some kind of wishing demon to become tigers like Xander.

"So that's what Dad screwed up," Xander asked. They had already explained about Drusilla being called Atropos by Lorne. "Hopefully they didn't get a full set of Whitelighter powers."

"I think it is far more likely," Giles said, "that they have become some kind of Furling. Although the thought of Spike as a new Hercules is rather daunting."

"Why," Buffy asked. "I mean Kevin Sorbo is hot and he plays Hercules, so wouldn't that make Spike a hero?"

"Buffy," Giles explained. "In the original myths, while Hercules was classified as a hero, he also raped most of the Amazons, killed his wife and child in a fit of jealousy, and by our standards would have been a right Bastard."

"So he'll be Spike on steroids then," Xander asked.

Giles shook his head, "We shall have to see. What else did Harmony say?"

"She talked about how Drusilla was going to take her to meet the princesses," Tara said. "She called them the Princess of Winter and the Princess of Summer."

"Holy Shit," Faith said.

Language, Faith," Joyce admonished.

"Sorry Mom," Faith said. "But Lorne called me Lady Winter, and he said I would have a court."

"He also called you ice princess," Amy said.

"And mini-me called you daughter of Winter and Buffy was the daughter of Summer," Xander added.

Joyce got up and started to walk, "Rupert I'm blaming you," she said.

"For what Joyce?" Giles had to ask.

"Because I would love to have a drink right now and I can't," Joyce replied. Everyone else laughed, as Giles looked startled.

Whilst part of him felt that was unfair of Joyce, the wiser part of himself simply said, "Of course dear Joyce, as you should." This caused Joyce to laugh as well.

As they were laughing there was a knock on the door, "I'll get it," Buffy said. Opening the door she saw Willow's parents. "Oh, Mr. and Mrs. Rosenberg," Buffy said. "Ah, Hi."

"Ms. Summers," Ira said. "We're sorry to bother you but we were hoping you know where Willow is?"

Willow squeaked. "Mom, Dad what are you doing here?"

"Willow," her parents cried out as the ran towards her. "We've been trying to call you ever since we heard the news that Sunnydale had been declared a Disaster Area. But you weren't answering your phone at the dorms, you hadn't been back to the house. We were so worried," Sheila said.

"When we couldn't get a hold of you; we came back as quickly as we could," Ira said. Hugging his daughter saying, "My little Motek[a], you had us so worried."

Willow was a dutiful daughter, she loved that her parents had actually been worried about her but at the same time she was pissed off that they had constantly been gone. If they were actually worried about her then why did they leave so often? "Abba," She said. "If you're so worried about me why are you never here?"

"Willow," Sheila exclaimed, "How could you say something like that. We've always been here for you!"

"No Mama," Willow said. "You haven't been. You're both gone so much, that I frankly forgot to call you because I didn't think you would even notice what had happened."

"That's not true, Willow," Ira said.

"Abba," Willow said. "If you pay attention to me can you tell me who I've been dating?"

"That boy with the colored hair," Sheila said. "Ozzy?"

Willow shook her head, "He left me months ago Mama. The truth is you don't know anything about me."

Ira looked at his daughter. "She's right Sheila," he said. Turning to Willow he said, "But you're also wrong. I know you're my daughter. You're a beautiful, kind and intelligent woman. You make me proud to be your father. And nothing will ever change that."

"Really Abba," Willow asked. "Nothing?"

"Nothing Willow, till the day I died and beyond, you will always be my beloved daughter," Ira said.

"I hope that's true Abba," Willow said. "But I'd like you to meet someone who is my everything, then you can tell me if you still feel the same way."

"Who Willow," Sheila asked. "You've found yourself a new boy?"

"No Mama," Willow said. "I want you to meet Tara, my wife." You could have heard a pin drop at the silence in the room. Willow was waiting for her parents to disown her. Tara was nervously holding Willows' hand.

Ira looked at the two of them. "Tara, do you love my daughter," He asked.

Tara nodded her head, "Yes, she's amazing."

"Hm," Ira said. "As long as you continue to love her, then it is fine." Stepping up to Tara he hugged her and Willow. "Congratulations my daughters."

Sheila was dumbstruck; she had never even suspected that Willow might be gay. How could she have missed the signs? She and Ira prided themselves on their areas of expertise in the psychological fields. Yet here was proof, proof of Willow's accusations. Sheila stepped towards her daughter. "I'm sorry Willow," Sheila said. "You're right, we failed to pay attention to you. If we had I would have known you were gay. We could have been there for you. Forgive me."

Willow hugged her mother, "I missed you, Mama," she said. "You both left and were never home."

"We will change that," Ira said. "I don't know how, but we will."

As everyone was looking at Willow, Tara, and her parents, Faith looked around. The emotional bomb that had just gone off was intense. "Ah Giles, Mom," Faith said. Once she saw they were looking at her she said, "What is a ghost doing here?" She pointed to a figure of a man. He was standing inside of the house, looking at them.

"You can see me?" Hawkeye exclaimed.

Ok on Willow's parents. I have made them a bit different than most of the fics. Yes, they are absentee parents. But they both believe that it will help to make Willow stronger. Yes, they are smart idiots.

[a]Sweetie, Hebrew


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

TIMELINE: Before Chapter 11 of SG-1 Comes to Sunnydale.

I need to Thank everyone who has recommended me, AleLupe, AnFan, asaloth, Bluesnowman, borgrabbit, Cutiepie, docfeng, grd, Greywizard, hamishog, Iron Druid, MasterRahl, missinglink, nils, Oddshot, Pattisue, Questara, RafMereC, RedCalypso, Truthmaker and winiepoo. Thank you all so much for the recommendations.

Sorry for the delay. This is not abandoned. But I think this part of the arc will be finished in 3-5 chapters. Next week I will try to put in another update. But it may be a little longer between posting.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 29

Hawkeye had been many things during his life: a surgeon, a father, a drunk, and something of a prankster. By the end of nineteen-fifty-four, he had already had three children, in two years, twin boys and a girl. He lived a good life, he thought he had been a good Father and Husband. It wasn't until nineteen-eighty-five that he even learned he might have another child. At fifty-four years old he had found out that one of his girlfriends from before Korea had shown up in Maine, with a baby. It had been right at the time when the Army had declared him deceased, his Dad had been dealing with the information of his son's death, and had never really talked about it. Hawkeye wasn't even sure what had happened.

By the time everything had been cleared up, Hanna Rosenberg had already left town. Hawkeye only learned of her visit because one of his Father's friends who was in her eighties and suffering dementia had told him the whole story as if it had happened yesterday. Which to be honest for her it might as well have been yesterday.

It took almost three years to track down Hanna and her Son. Hawkeye wasn't sure what he should do. "Do I go up to the man and say, 'Hi, I think I'm your Father?' Somehow I doubt that will go over well," he had thought.

Ira Benjamin Rosenberg was living in California, a little town called Sunnydale. Hawkeye had decided to move. His own children were grown and had their own families. He needed to see if this was his son and if he could connect with him. He was surprised that at almost sixty-years-old it was very easy to get a job at Sunnydale Memorial Hospital. Still, he moved anyway. Hawkeye was even more surprised at who the head nurse for the night shift was: Nurse Kelly. He hadn't seen her since the war ended. And she had really aged well: she didn't look a day over forty, when he knew she had to be close to his own age.

Kelly had shown him the ropes, of the new hospital. Hawkeye was appalled at the lack of staffing on the night shift for the emergency room. He started making sure he was assigned to the shift so that people would get the care they needed. During the day he watched Ira, his wife Sheila and their little girl Willow. Willow looked a lot like Hanna; her eyes, she had Hanna's eyes. Willow also reminded Hawkeye of his own mother; Willow had the same red hair and nose as his mother.

Hawkeye also began to see a disturbing pattern with Ira and Sheila, they were leaving town often overnight or for a day or so, and Willow was left alone at home. After a year of watching Ira, Hawkeye knew he needed to do something. He hoped to introduce himself to his son and if nothing else he could see about taking care of Willow when her parents had to leave.

Hawkeye knew he didn't have much time left, he had been feeling ill. His own check-ups showed that he had cancer. Best case scenario, he would be dead in a year or two. Still, he would do what he could to know his son and granddaughter. As he was getting changed in his office at the hospital he smiled at the image in the mirror. Today was the day, he was going to introduce himself to Ira. He smiled again, "I just wish that I could have more time with Ira and his family."

Hawkeye was surprised to see a man with a deformed face appear. He said, "Wish Granted." Hawkeye felt a strange lethargy come over him. He fell to the ground. As Hawkeye sat up he saw something was different. His hands were young again. He looked down as he stood and saw his aged body on the floor. Hawkeye couldn't believe it. He was dead. But he seemed to be a ghost. Hawkeye also found that no one could see him. He could see them, through. He was pulled to Ira's house.

It took awhile for Hawkeye to understand everything. He had wished for more time with his Son and Granddaughter. He got his wish, but they couldn't see or hear him. "This is Hell," Hawkeye said. Gradually Hawkeye learned to drift farther away from his family. It was just too painful to see but never touch. He could hear them but never speak to them.

Wandering Sunnydale as a ghost, Hawkeye learned the truth about the small town. So many things made sense now. He saw Willow grow into a young woman. Hawkeye was in the hospital watching over her when she cast the soul curse. Ira and Sheila spent more and more time away from home. Sometimes she would be alone for weeks at a time, and Hawkeye couldn't let her know he was there for her.

Then there was tonight, Ira and Sheila had both shown up at the Hospital, looking for Willow, worried about not being able to find her. Hawkeye knew she was fine. He had seen her and Tara, her girlfriend, recently. He still followed Ira and Sheila to see what would happen. He hoped his son would finally learn what was the most important things in life.

When he followed Ira into the Summers house he felt a tingle come over him. After being dead for so many years, he was familiar with magic, at least to a small extent. Hawkeye had even learned how to see it when he put his mind to it. Not that it really helped him, but it did allow him to know which places around Sunnydale were best avoided. So Hawkeye was very surprised when Faith, pointed to him. He responded the only way that made sense.

"You can see me?" Hawkeye exclaimed.

"Well, ya," Cordelia said. "I mean that should be obvious even for a ghost. Otherwise, why would Faith be pointing to you?"

"No one's been able to see me for years," Hawkeye said. "I've been stuck always able to watch, never able to say anything."

"Eww, gross," Buffy said. "You're some kind of a peeping tom pervert?"

"No," Hawkeye said. "I really only watched them." Hawkeye pointed to Ira and Willow.

"Excuse me," Joyce said. "But I don't think we've been introduced. I'm Joyce Summers, these are my daughters, Faith and Buffy." Joyce continued introducing everyone else. "And who are you?"

Hawkeye straightened up. "Dr. Benjamin Franklin Pierce, but please call me Hawkeye. And I already know almost everyone here. I've seen you for years."

"Ok," Buffy said. "Why are you being all stalkery?"

Hawkeye sighed, after so many years of not being able to say anything he had given up ever talking to his family. "I wasn't stalking anyone," Hawkeye explained. "I was following my son and granddaughter."

"What?" was the almost universal outcry.

"Dr. Pierce," Giles said. "Could you please explain that in greater detail?"

"Only if you call me Hawkeye," Hawkeye grinned. He knew how stuffy Giles was, it reminded him of Charles in a lot of ways. Hawkeye went through his entire story when he explained what happened the day he became a ghost, the Scoobies gasped.

"It appears, Dr. Pierce, that you became a victim of a vengeance demon," Giles said. "And unfortunately it is much too late to try and reverse the effects of your W-I-S-H."

"Yeah," Hawkeye said. "I figured that out when you ran into Anyanka the first time. Like I said I've been following my family for years, I had a front row seat for most of your little adventures. And if a ghost could have gotten drunk I would be setting up my own still again!" Turning to the children, "You all take too many damn risks, I about died worrying whether or not you would survive! From now on try and be more careful!"

Willow and Tara started laughing first soon they were joined by Xander and Faith. Before long everyone except a stunned Ira and Sheila were laughing at Hawkeye. "Yo, pretty hard for you to die from worry since you're a ghost and all," Faith snickered.

Hawkeye through his hands into the air, "Not the point," Hawkeye said. "I may be dead, but I don't want any of you joining me anytime soon."

"So you're my Father?" Ira asked. Ira had heard the entire outlandish tale, being told by a ghost no less. And Hawkeye's first name, Benjamin, it fit with Ira's own theories. Even Hawkeye's stories about how his mother had tried to contact him only to learn that Hawkeye was reported dead in Korea made sense.

Hawkeye looked at his son, "Yes, I am. And I would have preferred meeting you while I was alive. But it seems that wasn't going to happen."

"Do I have any brother's or sister's?" Ira asked.

"Two brother's twin boys, and one sister," Hawkeye said. "All of them younger than you. I may have played the field, but I never cheated, while married. And the one married woman I knowingly slept with. Well, we were under heavy artillery fire, trapped in a deserted village, and she had just found out her husband was cheating on her. Plus she ended up being a very close friend before the end of the war."

"So I have an Aunt and two Uncles," Willow asked . 'Do I have any cousins?"

"Yes," Hawkeye said, "But I haven't seen them since I died. I don't even know if they're still alive." Hawkeye leaned against a wall. "I'd like to know if they are alright, and you should meet them," Hawkeye pointed to Ira. "They'll be shocked, but they're your family."

Ira was feeling shocked. He had a family, and his father was a ghost, who had been watching him for years. "I think I need to go," Ira said. "This is just too much!"

"Dad," Willow said, "Please, I know it's weird. But, please don't go," Willow pleaded.

"Willow," Ira said. "I need time, time to think. I promise your mother and I will stay here in Sunnydale for now. But I need time." Willow nodded and hugged her mother and father before they left.

"Willow," Sheila said, before leaving. "Tomorrow night, you and Tara will come for dinner."

"Yes, Momma," Willow said. "I'll call you tomorrow."

Hawkeye was torn: follow his son or stay? "I think you should stay for now," Joyce said. "When someone first learns the truth about Sunnydale, it's very hard to accept."

Hawkeye nodded, "I suppose that's true. I know I wouldn't have believed it before dying."

"So," Tara asked. "What are your plans now?"

Hawkeye laughed, "I have no idea," he admitted. "I mean, I'm still sort of stuck as a ghost. Hopefully, I can at least keep talking to everyone. You have no idea how hard it was just to watch, never able to help. I became a Doctor to help people. And I've been stuck for years unable to do that."

"Well," Buffy said. "More help is always of the good. So you're welcome to help us." Hawkeye nodded this was better than anything that had happened to him in years.

On a different plane of existence where the Powers that Be, or the Angels of Destiny as they were sometimes called, existed, a debate had been ongoing.

"Still no sign of Whistler," One of the beings said. "We know he was last in Sunnydale checking on our pawns. Then nothing. We know he's not dead but we can not find him."

"We can't even see Sunnydale anymore," complained the second power. "Something has happened that has disturbed the entire plan. The pawns are mixed with each other. Pieces that were never meant to come into contact with each other are now mingling together. The Slayer has been corrupted. I don't think we'll be able to redeem the spirit."

The Angels of Destiny had been around for longer than the Earth. In the beginning, they guided the War against the old ones. They directed the Ancients and the other races. As those races got older and tried to avoid the Angels' direction, the Powers gradually killed them off or sent them down paths that would destroy them.

The powers had modified the early life form that would become the Goa'uld. They foresaw the problems the Furlings would cause, so they took steps to have them destroyed. The Ancients were encouraged along the path of ascension. They took themselves off the board when they ascended. The Asgard had their clones develop a lethal flaw. And the Nox were encouraged to retreat into themselves, leaving the rest of the universe alone.

By now the Powers ruled all of the lesser beings. They had been charged by the creator with watching over the plan. Over the millions of years they had been in control, they changed from watching the plan to directing the plan. They supplanted and destroyed most of the old gods. They were no longer needed for the plan. True some were still around, but they didn't dare interfere because they knew that the Powers would destroy them if they did anything that upset their plans.

The Powers had been told to let the humans and other species have free will, it was part of the original directives. And for the most part, they did. But for the critical players, they had stopped allowing them the freedom to choose. It was too dangerous. If they chose wrong it could destroy everything. And sacrificing the choice of a handful of beings was worth it, it was for the greater good of everyone.

"We need more information," The third power said. "Right now we are operating blindly. Without information, we're no better than the creatures themselves, when it comes to charting the course. What do we really know?"

"The Wolf, the Ram, and the Hart," Two said. "The Wolf destroyed the Ram and the Hart has fled. Our seer has disappeared from the board. We can still send her visions but we don't even know if they are received."

"That's not true," One said. "The last vision was acted on. All of the woman survived and the demon was destroyed."

"How did it happen?' Three asked.

"We couldn't see the final battle," One replied. "However, the Dark Slayer was aiding the Seer. I was able to get small glimpses of her. She has been altered. She no longer holds the Slayer powers. She is something I know we have seen before but I can not recall it."

Two and Three nodded. While they were superior to the lower creatures, they were not Omniscient. "Show us," Three commanded. "Perhaps together we can determine what has changed."

One played out the scenes it had been able to capture. Two and Three watched. "She is Furling," Three stated.

"How?" Two asked. "We destroyed them for the greater good of the plan. There should be no way for her to have become Furling."

"How isn't important," One said. "We have to decide what we will do. Do we allow the Furlings to return? We don't even know if she is the only one."

"We destroyed them because of the threat they presented to the plan," Three said. "Are they still a threat? They will have none who can show them the knowledge that was lost. They are powerful, but power without knowledge is wasted."

"Perhaps someone has found the knowledge," Two said. "It would explain why we can not view so many of our pawns. They have obscured the pieces."

"If that is true," Three said, "we will find the one with the knowledge and remove them."

"We will assign our servants to watch those who can be seen. From observing them we may be able to determine who has the knowledge to block us. Then we shall move others to remove the threat from the board," One said. "It will be slower than our normal methods but right now it is the only way."

"What of our other moves," Two asked. "Is it wise to push them forward when we can not ensure the outcome? I propose we put those plans in abeyance, it should not take long to determine what is truly happening on Earth. Once we have removed the problem we can restart the plans."

"Acting without Knowledge would make us no better than the creatures we oversee," Three said. "For now, I agree, all plans will be halted until we know the source of the problem and determine how to remove it. But the enemy forces should be encouraged to continue building their power. It may be needed to deal with the threat to our plans."

Sokar, now that Ra was dead, was the only Goa'uld to still employ shields that prevented the Powers from manipulating them. Because he had absorbed the knowledge of the Source thousands of years previously, he knew the Powers would still try to control everything. He only needed to find the power of the Source, which had been stripped from the knowledge. Then he would be in a position to take on the Angels of Destiny.

The Powers hadn't even thought of Sokar in several millennium. Once the other Goa'uld had driven him out he didn't matter. They had successfully arranged for Ra's shields to be sabotaged and had directed him without his knowledge since before he had left Earth. The Goa'uld themselves were the Powers' own creation. They had needed something to use as a foil. Altering the primitive life form of the Goa'uld had worked much better than when they created the Wraith. The Goa'uld only needed one host to survive and they followed the Powers' directions. The primitive life form would have evolved alongside the Unas as a true Symbiote, both the host and the symbiote combined to create a great whole. However, for the Powers the current situation was preferable.

Only Egeria had even come close to seeing her species true possibilities. And that was after a Furling had taught her. It proved once again how the Powers were right to destroy the race. Unfortunately they had also had to remove Egeria from the playing field. They could only hope one day she would return to her assigned role in the plan.

Booth had been working, running his team that was taking apart Sunnydale PD piece by piece. They had gone through thousands of files mostly because the files were less than a single page long. All of them showed that the leaders of the SDPD knew what was happening. And rather than fight the darkness they helped cover it up. If nothing else they were guilty of aiding and abetting murder, thousands of times over.

Today, Booth would be interviewing some of the senior detectives. Stein was supposed to have been in earlier, and Booth was getting pissed. Turning to McGee he said, "I'm tired of waiting. Let's go see if he is at his house."

"Sure thing, Booth," McGee replied. Working with Booth was so much better than being stuck with Tony. Booth actually treated him with respect. "You driving?"

"Not this time," Booth said. "I still want to read more of Stein's files. We need to know why he kept going after Buffy Summers. Why did he single her out? It almost looks like he was told to try and harass her without really stopping anything she was doing."

Driving to Stein's house didn't take long. Knocking on the door produced no answer. "His car is gone," McGee said. "Do we wait?"

"Let's check the perimeter," Booth said. "See if we can find anything to give us probable cause." The two men circled the house. Once in the back yard, Booth pointed to the open backdoor. "I don't think Stein would have left his back door open. Looks like that's enough to enter."

"I'll cover you," McGee said. Booth carefully entered the house.

Once inside, Booth stopped, "You smell that?"

McGee nodded, "Something died here."

"Call for backup and a medical examiner," Booth ordered. Once Mcgee had called it in they moved forward searching the house. The smell got stronger as they approached the partially open bedroom door. Opening the door all the way, Booth quickly took in the sight. Two bodies, both male. Both had been dead at least a day.

"Isn't that Warren Mears?" McGee asked. Booth looked closer at the younger looking corpse.

"Looks like it," Booth agreed.

"We need to stay back then," McGee said before Booth could move closer. "If he was a goa'uld than the symbiote could still be here. We're going to need either Tok'ra or some Jaffa to help secure the scene."

Stepping back, Booth kept a watch on the corpses, "Call it in. Then we wait outside for the teams." Both men exited Stein's house from the front door. When the Medical examiner arrived, McGee greeted Ducky. Hodgin was with him.

"We think Mears is inside, but we're not letting anyone in because of the possibility that the symbiote is in there."

"Well," Hodgins said. "It's a good thing I'm here then. Since I already have one inside me Adriana and Kelmaa said no other symbiote would even try to enter. I can also tell you if the symbiote is still inside. Kelmaa and Adriana have been showing me how to recognize when another one is near. It will only work for a few feet. But if the thing is in there it will have to be inside one of the bodies. The symbiote can't survive long outside of the host without a liquid medium."

McGee looked at Booth for his decision. "Do it,"" Booth said. "Just be careful. I don't want to upset Bones by losing one of her best people."

Hodgins nodded and entered the house. He walked toward the master bedroom. Opening the closed door, he ignored the smell. Hodgins felt a sense of satisfaction run through him when he saw Warren Mears dead body. The hole through the forehead, blowing out the back of his head was the probable cause of death.

Hodgins looked over Stein as well. Harder to say what had caused the cauterized burns on the man's body. But Hodgins did not sense a Goa'uld in the room. Heading back out he went to Booth. "It's clear," Hodgins said. "Unless the symbiote died inside of Mears, it's not here."

"Yeah," Booth said. "And what are the odds that that was the case?"

"I'm not taking that bet," McGee said. "You saw the blood spray, someone else moved Mears body."

"So that means," Hodgins said, "unless the symbiote was unable to transfer hosts, whoever that someone is is now Warren's new ride."

"Poor Bastard," Booth said. "Let's get you and Ducky in there. I'll call Gibbs and let him know what we found." Booth paused for a moment. "Good work, Hodgins."

"Thanks, Booth," Hodgins said with a smile. He then grabbed most of the gear and followed Ducky inside.

"I still don't know how he can let one of those things stay inside of him," Booth said to McGee.

"I don't know," McGee said. "From everything the Tok'ra have said about them, I've thought about volunteering to be a host. I mean, if they're right, it's almost a type of immortality. And even if they're wrong the symbiote still has some great benefits. You'd be stronger, faster, and have much better health. Sounds pretty good to me." Both men finished walking back to the car.

"No thanks," Booth said. "Throw me the keys, I'm driving." McGee tossed the keys to Booth and they headed back to the Base.

Gibbs wasn't happy to hear that Mears was dead. Well, he wasn't happy to know the symbiote was unaccounted for. He was pleased that Warren Mears the original was no longer a problem. "Hodgins confirmed he couldn't sense the symbiote?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, boss," Mcgee answered. "We're going to have to wait for the autopsy before we can confirm it switched hosts."

"It switched hosts," Gibbs said. "My gut says it's still out there. We need to concentrate on finding out who was the third person in the house. Whoever they are is the latest victim. Once we have an idea, I want a BOLO out on them. We'll try and take them in alive. The Tok'ra can remove the symbiote and hopefully they'll be able to have a normal life."

"As soon as Hodgins and Ducky are done we'll see if we can turn up anything," Booth said. "I saw the detail on Hodgins, you need to tell them to work on not being noticed, Gibbs."

"I'm not letting an alien symbiote run around without someone watching the host," Gibbs said.

"I agree," Booth said. "But Hodgins has been a conspiracy nut for years. He's probably already spotted them."

"Even if he has," Gibbs said. "He hasn't tried to shake them. That either supports the Tok'ra's claims, or it means the symbiote is playing the long game. Either way, we'll keep watching."

McGee couldn't believe it. He hadn't even thought that they would be spying on the team members once the Tok'ra cleared them. "Is Todd being watched too?"

"She came to me and demanded it," Gibbs said. "She thought it was too much of a security risk otherwise. And I wouldn't expect anything less from Caitlin, so if the symbiote really is in control, it knows it too."

This is enough to give me a headache," Booth said. "It's one of the reasons I never wanted to go into the CIA. You can't tell who you should trust."

Gibbs nodded, "Agreed. But we play the hand we're dealt not the one we wish we had. Anything else?"

"The SDPD is useless. I think we could get most of them on aiding and abetting if we could bring the cases to court. The fact that we're talking about deaths caused by demons and vampires means most of them will get off scot free." Booth didn't look happy about it.

"Not necessarily," Gibbs said. "We're actually looking into a third solution."

"What, Boss?" McGee asked.

"Exile," Gibbs said. "They're thinking of rounding them up and dropping them on a habitable planet that currently doesn't have anyone living there. It's better than letting them go free, but not as good as charging them."

Booth snorted, "I don't know, I think it sounds about right. Most of these people would have a damn hard time surviving in the wild. If anyone asks I'm all for throwing them to the wolves, after all, that's what they did to the people they were supposed to protect."

"Noted. Now get back to work," Gibbs said dismissing them.

Before the day was over, it had been confirmed Mears had been the host of a symbiote. And the symbiote had taken over another host. It still took them several hours to match the prints found.

"We've got a match on the prints," McGee told Booth. Opening a folder he handed Booth a copy. "Meet Lisa Monroe, a fifteen-year-old runaway, originally from Texas. She ran away almost six months ago. I checked Stein's computer, he sucked at cleaning up after himself. She was picked up over a month ago and he wiped the report. According to Hodgins, she was living there for some time longer than a few days, based on the presences of an open tampon box. It was newer, and he is estimating that she went through at least two periods while in the house based on the number of tampons used."

Caitlin had joined Booth and McGee since they had a new line on the symbiote, "So he was either using her for sex or keeping her for sex," Todd said. "He was a real piece of work."

"No signs of restraints in the house," Booth said. "My guess is, he let her stay, as long as she satisfied him. Once he was tired of her, all that he would have to do is drop her off in a cemetery at night. She'd be dead before morning and he'd never have to worry about anyone complaining."

Both McGee and Todd were sickened to realize they couldn't find anything to disagree with.

"Get a fresh BOLO out on her," Booth said. "McGee, I want you to take her photo check with the guards that are checking people leaving and entering Sunnydale. See if they recognize her. Todd, start going through the stuff we pulled out of Stein's house, maybe he'll have something that incriminates some of the other crooked cops. I'm going to try to talk to Zack, see if he can help us figure out where Mears might go."

"Booth," McGee said. "Do you want to wait for me? From the sounds of it I might be able to help connect with the symbiote."

Booth thought for a moment, "After you check with the guards come meet me, I'll see what I can do without you first."

Zack had finally recovered from the side effects of the serum. Andrecus, as he continued to insist, was his name, had bitched and moaned the entire time. The pain had been excruciating. "Really, Andrecus," Zack said. "You need to stop thinking of yourself as a Sith. You have none of the powers that a Sith or a Force user would have. And denying reality will ultimately result in your being forcibly removed from me. At which time you will either be killed or spend the rest of your life swimming."

"But I can't swim," Andrecus said. "I'd drown if they did that."

"I highly doubt that," Zack said. "From studying the symbiotes water seems to be their natural habitat. You would be fine, but never again could you interact with any humans."

"That's mean," Andrecus said. "I haven't done anything to them."

"You ordered them to bow down before you because you were Darth Andricus, Lord of the Sith," Zack pointed out. "It's not like they haven't seen the movies. They know what Sith Lords stand for. You need to accept the truth. Andrew Wells is dead. You're all that is left of him, but you're not him. You can be better than he was."

Andrecus wanted to argue, but Kelmaa had stopped by multiple times, and that Anise woman who had shown up. She was like a freaky Romulan, cold yet dangerous. "So you're saying I really am like the Trill. I keep the memories from my hosts, so as long as I live a part of them lives on?"

"We don't know yet," Zack said. "Use our connection, you should be able to see the conclusions I've already drawn. We might have different conclusions, but the basic facts are self-evident. It is a fact that the symbiotes are the same species as Goa'uld. It is also a fact, supported by available evidence, that the scientists here were experimenting on the symbiotes. They were trying to find a way to destroy the Goa'ulds ability to transfer genetic knowledge from one generation to the next. The evidence we have gathered up to know supports the theory that they succeeded in destroying the genetic memory of the Goa'uld. And right now, your identifying as Andrew Wells supports the theory that the blank symbiotes will imprint the mind of their first host. We do not yet know enough to guess whether or not you will imprint my mind as well."

"And if I do," Andrecus asked, "what if I just keep imprinting the minds of my host? What happens then?"

"Then, assuming you are permitted additional hosts in the future," Zack said, "you will need to be extremely careful of who you choose to bond with. Unless you plan to be like the Goa'uld and rape the minds of your host. Forcing them to watch as you steal their free will."

"No," Andrecus said. "And I said I was sorry about that. You don't need to keep bringing it up."

"Yes I do," Zack said. "It's obvious that you would like to forget it, but if you do then you are more likely to repeat your past actions. I am willing to work with you, to live life like the Tok'ra. But you will need to commit to living like the Tok'ra do. I think we have a great deal in common and would like to consider you as my friend."

"What do I need to do?" Andrecus asked. This last conversation had been repeated multiple times in the last few days. Zack had noticed, even if Andricus hadn't, that each time the symbiote was coming around a little more.

"Help us," Zack said. "Work with us to protect people. Your friend Warren Mears tried to kill Hodgins. If we hadn't found him when we did, and if there had not been a symbiote here, he would have died. Does that make Warren sound like the type of person you want to be friends with? A cold-blooded killer?"

"But what if he comes after me?" Andrecus asked.

"That what friends are for," Zack said. "When someone came after Dr. Brennan or Hodgins in the past we've all been there to make sure they are safe. Real friends will be there to help you."

"I'll think about it," Andrecus said.

By the time Booth arrived, Zack had been sitting in silence for several hours. Andrecus had retreated into himself leaving Zack in control of his body. "Hello Agent Booth," Zack said. "Why are you here?"

'Are you Zack right now or Andrecus?" Booth asked.

"Andrecus is thinking about some things," Zack said.

"I'll have to take your word for it for now," Booth said. "Can you wake him up? I need to talk to him."

"I'll try,' Zack said. Zack closed his eyes to try and communicate with Andrecus.

Thirty minutes later Zack was still sitting there with his eyes closed. Booth was bored, but there was nothing else he could do. He tried to be patient and wait, reciting in his mind the Serenity Prayer.

It was another thirty minutes before McGee arrived. "Hey Booth," McGee said. "What's going on?"

"Zack was trying to get Andrecus to talk with us," Booth said. "I've been waiting for over an hour for him to open his eyes. How'd it go with the guards?"

"None of them remembered seeing Lisa," McGee said. "They all have photos of her now so if we spot her they'll watch her and try to get back up. They'll make up some excuse as to why the check is taking so long. Worse case scenario they'll have to shoot her."

"Better than being stuck as Mears' puppet for the rest of her life," Booth said.

Zack opened his eyes. They could tell this was Andrecus by the white glow, " **Zack said you wanted to talk to me** ," he said.

"We need to talk about Warren Mears," Booth said. "Earlier today we found his body."

" **What**?" Andrecus exclaimed. " **Who killed him? How could this have happened**?"

"It looks like he broke into one of the Sunnydale Police Detectives' houses, the detective shot and killed him and died at the same time," Booth said. "But we think he took a new host," Booth pulled out a copy of Lisa Monroe's picture. "She's a fifteen-year-old runaway and Warren is now stuck inside of her. She doesn't deserve that."

" **What do you want from me**?" Andrecus asked. He couldn't believe Warren was gone. Had Jonathan been right? If Zack was saying the truth then Andrew Wells was dead as well, because of Warren. And he was all that was left of Andrew Wells.

"We need to know where he might have gone," Booth said. "We know both of you had places you were hiding. Where would Warren hide?"

Andrecus pondered the question. Who should he be loyal to? Andrew had been loyal to Warren, Andrecus could tell Andrew had been crushing on Warren. Part of his loyalty had been because he wanted Warren sexually. Andrecus didn't feel the same, having never experienced sex while in a host. And Andrew had been a virgin. He really didn't see what the big deal was. The question was, who did he want to be? He had read about the Goa'uld. Kelmaa made sure that Andrecus could see that they would never accept him as one of them. And unless he wanted to die, his only real option was proving to the Tok'ra that he was worth saving, or at least allowing to continue living.

" **If you'll get me a pen and paper** ," Andrecus said. " **I'll give you a list of all the storage compartments we had. We used the names of people who had disappeared to rent them with**."

"Did Jonathan know about them?" Booth asked.

" **Warren didn't trust him enough to tell him about them** ," Andrecus said. " **I don't think Warren will be very happy right now. He always talked about how women were meant to serve on their knees. If he really has taken this girl as a host, he's not going to be very nice to her**."

Booth nodded as he handed Andrecus a pen and paper. "We'll keep that in mind. Hopefully, we'll be able to save her." Andrecus filled out the list ten storage container that Andrew had rented for Warren.

" **If you can capture him** ," Andrecus said. " **I'd like to talk to him before you extract him**."

"If your information pans out I'll see what we can do," Booth said.

Warren Mears had spent most of his time after leaving Stein's house pondering his new existence. That and making Lisa relive her worst memories. The Bitch just didn't know when to shut up. And after stumbling into a memory of sex that she had enjoyed, Warren didn't want to think about that ever again. He wasn't a fag. And only a faggot or a woman would enjoy sex with a man. He was a man, even if he was in a woman's body.

He had hidden Stein's car close to the Storage locker where they had stashed the things they had stolen from the Initiative. He was currently playing with the hand thing. He had managed to get it to generate a concussive blast. But when trying to repeat the thing it wouldn't work. While he was concentrating on that, Lisa had started bitching again. She went on and on about how this was her body, and she just wanted to be let go.

" **I swear to God** ," Warren said. " **If I do find out how to switch bodies, if you don't shut up I'll make sure you're dead when I do**!"

Lisa stopped talking, she didn't want to make the monster do anything else to her. "Please God," she whispered to herself. "Please get me out of this."

Neither Warren nor Lisa were expecting the door to the storage locker to burst open. Four Jaffa entered the room, Zat'nik'tel were armed and pointing towards the startled Warren Mears. "Do not move," Teal'c commanded. "Warren Mears, if you move you will be shot."

 _Shit_ Warren thought. _They know! How do they know?_

"Lisa Monroe," Teal'c continued. "We know that the Goa'uld has taken control of your body. We will assist you."

Lisa could have screamed for joy. Her prayers had been answered. Warren, however, realized that they would kill him. He started to raise the Kara Kesh to try and shoot the Jaffa, or at least bluff them into letting him go.

As his arm came up Teal'c saw the Kara Kesh, "Jaffa Kree," Teal'c said, as he fired his own Zat. The other Jaffa watched prepared to fire if they needed to. Warren jerked as the shot from the Zat hit him. He fell to the floor unconscious. "Gather her body," Teal'c commanded. "I shall inform Agent Booth that we have secured the Goa'uld."

Teal'c exited the building and went over to Booth. "Agent Booth," Teal'c said. "The Goa'uld Warren Mears has been captured. My men will bring out the body of Lisa Monroe now."

"She's dead?" Booth asked.

"Merely stunned," Teal'c said. "Warren Mears was wearing a Kara Kesh. He attempted to attack us with it. I used my Zat'nik'tel to subdue him."

"Once you've removed her, I'll have my people get everything from inside," Booth said. "Thank you for your help, Teal'c."

"It was my honor to assist you in fighting the Goa'uld," Teal'c said with a slight bow of his head. "My Jaffa will take Lisa Monroe back to the Initiative and place her body in one of the cells. When you return you should be able to interrogate her with Kelmaa and Adriana's help."

Booth nodded and moved into the now vacant storage unit to gather up everything that was inside. It was almost dark out so he had additional men tasked with watching the perimeter in case of Vampire attack.

Hawkeye had spent the entire day at the Summers house. They had quickly determined that people could only see him if he was inside of the wards. Cordelia had introduced him to Dennis, her own ghost roommate. Most of the day was spent talking to Willow. Hawkeye had been watching her for years, but he had never been able to tell her how proud he was of her. Or to tell her when she was acting stupid. He had talked about his own childhood growing up in Maine. And his love of Crabapple Cove. Even though he knew it wasn't the same anymore it was still his boyhood home.

Willow had enjoyed hearing about her other family members. She felt she had made the right choice in not doing the adoption ceremony. Hawkeye was incredible; sure he had a lot of stories about things he had done. But she could tell that overall he was a very caring man.

"So," Hawkeye asked, "Do you think Ira will be willing to get to know me?"

"I think he will eventually," Willow said. "He's probably spent most of the day trying to convince himself that this was all a dream. Tara and I will probably have to spend tonight proving to my parents that magic and aliens are real."

"Even I have a problem believing in aliens," Hawkeye admitted.

"We may just take them up to the _Bautarsteinn_ to get them to accept the truth," Willow conceded. "It's probably a good idea anyway, that way the Asgard can give them a physical. I think it might be best if you stay here while I meet with my parents since they wouldn't be able to see you anyway. Dad might be less uncomfortable if he knows you're not there."

"Yeah," Hawkeye admitted. "I can understand that. I'll stay here as long as it's alright with the people here. I'd hate to impose."

"Oh," Tara said. "Don't worry about that. If you had been evil you'd never have gotten through the wards. And really as long as you're not walking in on people taking showers or having sex," She looked right at Xander. "Then it should be fine."

"I thought you were going to let that go, Tara," Xander said.

"Not anytime soon," Tara said with a smile.

"Fine be that way," Xander said. "I'm going downstairs."

"I'll join ya," Faith said. "You can come down later if you want," Faith said to Hawkeye.

"Willow," Hawkeye began. "I've been watching you for more than half your life. And I just want to say, I'm proud to be your grandfather. You've helped save a lot of people. Hell, you've helped to save the world. And even though you've made mistakes, you're a good person."

Willow started to tear up. While she might not think of Hawkeye as a granddad yet, she really felt good about what he had said. "Thank you, Hawkeye," Willow said. "That means a lot to me."

"Willow," Tara said. "We need to go if we're going to be on time. Hawkeye, it's been really nice to talk to you. I hope you decide to stay around."

Hawkeye laughed, "I don't think I can go anywhere else. But as long as you'll let me I'd like to stay. I'd give you both a hug, but it's not in the cards for right now. Now get out of here and go convince Ira that this is real." Both girls nodded and left. Hawkeye sat down to think about how this day had changed his afterlife.

Willow and Tara arrived on time at her parent's house. Entering the house Willow could tell that Ira and Sheila were heavily into the Sunnydale Syndrome. Rather than argue with them Willow decided to try and force the knowledge into their heads. Touching the Asgard communication device she said, "Commander Baldur, would you please transport the four of us to a private room with a view of the Earth?"

Baldur replied shortly, "Certainly Willow Rosenberg." Before her parents could ask 'What is going on?' everyone was aboard the _Bautarsteinn_.

Sheila and Ira started screaming as soon as they realized that they were no longer in their house. When they looked out the viewscreen and saw the planet Earth below them they stopped screaming and just stared at it.

"Mom, Dad," Willow said. "I'm sorry that I have to do it this way. But I, we can't afford to let you keep going on in denial of reality. Welcome to the _Bautarsteinn_ , it's an Asgard ship. And we are currently orbiting the planet Earth. Aliens, Magic, and Ghosts are all real. I'm a witch and part of an Alien species, which means at least one of you is an alien as well."

Both of her parents turned to her. The questions started flying back and forth. What did she mean? What did all of this mean? If she was a witch was she no longer Jewish? Willow managed to answer some of their questions and deflected others while getting Eir to scan them both. She then spent the rest of the night explaining Sunnydale and her life. She also explained how they were currently negotiating with the US and British about teaching advanced technology to Earth.

The talk wouldn't get done until early in the morning, when Willow requested sleeping quarters for them all so that when her parents woke up they would still be onboard the _Bautarsteinn_. She hoped that would be enough to finally convince them and break the denial.

Faith and Xander had gone downstairs and just hung out. They watched a movie with Hawkeye joining them. As they were getting ready to go to bed Faith grabbed Xander. "You're sleeping with me tonight, Xander," Faith said.

Xander felt his stomach drop, "Faith we can't. You promised Joyce no sex. And I don't want to break that promise."

Faith smiled, "I know, and we won't be having sex. But from now on you're sleeping with me. I want to go to sleep in your arms and wake up next to you. You're mine, so get your things and let's go."

Hawkeye laughed at Xander's expression. "I'd do what she says Xander. She reminds me of Margaret when she decided she wanted something."

"Who was Margaret?" Faith asked.

"She was the head nurse of the 4077th. A blond bombshell of a woman, and an incredible friend and an even better nurse," Hawkeye said. "Plus I think you'd qualify for her nickname."

"What was her nickname," Faith asked, eyeing Hawkeye.

"We called her Hot Lips," Hawkeye said with a smile.

Faith laughed, 'OK, I like it. If you want to call me Hot Lips it's cool." Faith left, dragging Xander behind her as she went upstairs. They left the TV on Nick-at-Night so Hawkeye could watch it. It was showing repeats from the sixties, so at least it was familiar to him.

Faith enjoyed the feeling of going to sleep with Xander holding her, she liked waking up with him even more. It just felt right and safe, and it really turned her on. She disengaged herself from him and went to the bathroom, coming out of the bathroom, she got dressed quietly and then headed downstairs. Her Mom was sitting at the table drinking a cup of tea and eating breakfast.

"Morning sweetheart," Joyce said. "How was it? As good as you hoped it would be?"

Faith stopped, "How can you know I slept with Xander last night?"

"Because I am an older and wiser woman," Joyce said. "Plus I'm your Mother, it's my job to know this kind of thing. I know you only slept with Xander because I trust both of you, so was just sleeping with him as nice as you thought it would be?"

Faith grinned, "It was awesome," she said. "He held me all night long. And when I woke up he was still there holding me."

"So I take it you don't plan on kicking him to the curb," Joyce teased.

"I'm never letting him go," Faith said.

"And what about," Joyce paused. "Your offers to Cordelia? Is that real as well?"

"Mom," Faith said. "I love Xander. But I've always liked both men and woman. He's the first guy I've ever trusted. But yeah, if Cordelia decides she wants to be with both of us, I'd be willing to try and see if it works out. I know no matter what Xander would never leave me."

"And what if it was another woman?" Joyce asked. "I'm not asking to try and make it uncomfortable for you, Faith. I just want to understand what your boundaries are."

"Loving Xander," Faith said. "And see what comes. I think he'll let me decide what's allowed and what's not. Not that he's a pushover or anything. Just he want's me to let him know what's ok between us. At least right now."

"And what if Buffy wanted to join you?" Joyce asked. "And I'm not judging. You didn't grow up as sisters, so it makes a difference. It would be strange but I just want to understand your limits."

"We might not have grown up as sisters," Faith said. "But I don't think I'd be ok with sharing with Buffy, I love her, but I don't want to sleep with her anymore."

"I'm glad to hear that," said a relieved Joyce. "I'd have still loved you both anyway. But I prefer for my daughters to have different husbands. Although I did note the 'anymore' in that sentence."

"Buffy's hot," Faith said. "And before we became sisters I might have thought about getting with her. But since then it just doesn't click anymore, not like before." The mother and Daughter continued to talk while Xander slept.

Warren slowly came to. His head felt horrible. Opening his eyes he saw he was in a cell. But instead of the standard bars, there was a clear Plexiglas front. He sat up, slowly. _How am I going to get out of this?_ Warren thought.

It was only a few minutes later that several guards appeared. "Warren Mears," The Jaffa said. "You will face the wall and not move while we restrain you. If you attempt to move you will be shot with the Zat'nik'tel."

Warren waited for the door to open and the guard to start towards him. He tried to rush forward and was shot with the Zat.

When Warren came to the next time his headache was even worse. When he tried to move he found out he was strapped to a gurney. "Let me go please," Warren said in Lisa's voice. "Please, I haven't done anything. Please just let me go?"

An older blonde woman came into the room, her eyes were glowing brightly, just like Lisa's did when Warren wanted them too. " **Warren Mears** ," Kelmaa said. " **You will drink this** ," she held out a pink concoction that looked like Pepto Bismol.

"Please just let me go," Warren said. "I don't know who Warren Mears is. My name is Lisa Monroe."

" **If that is true after you have drunk this** ," Kelmaa said, playing along. They already knew the girl contained a Goa'uld. " **you will be free to go**." Kelmaa held the cup up to Lisa's mouth. Warren decided it was better to play along. Right now there was no way he could escape. At least not until they let down their guard. Drinking the liquid, Warren felt himself falling asleep.

Booth and Gibbs came into the room. " **The symbiote has been suppressed** ,"Kelmaa said.

"Good," Gibbs said. "Lisa, Lisa can you hear me?" Gibbs shook Lisa as he tried to wake her up.

Lisa heard someone calling her name, "Five more minutes, please just let me sleep five more minutes," Lisa said. She heard someone laughing.

"Come on, Lisa, we don't have much time," Gibbs said.

Lisa opened her eyes and saw she was in a room with two men and a woman strapped to a bed. "Who are you why am I here? Did you get rid of the monster?"

"I'm Special agent Gibbs, this is Special Agent Booth," Gibbs said. "No, the monster is only asleep. Do you know it's name?"

"It calls itself," Lisa said. "Warren Mears. It's horrible. Please, please get it out of me?"

Kelmaa receded so Adriana could speak. "Has Warren Mears locked you in your mind and refused to let you control your body?" Adriana asked.

"Yes," Lisa said with a sob. "He did something to my head. He made me relive the worst things that ever happened to me. Again and again and again. Please if you can't get him out of me, kill me."

"Lisa," Gibbs said. "We know people who can remove him. We're going to get them to remove him from you. But you're going to have to be brave. Physically they're like he is. They have a human host that they share their lives with. What he's done to you, they consider it a crime, like rape."

Lisa gasped as Gibbs said that. "Will they really help me?"

Adriana bowed her head and Kelmaa took over, " **Lisa Monroe, I am Kelmaa of the Tok'ra what has been done to you is a crime worthy of death. We will remove the symbiote from you and allow you to watch it's destruction if you wish**."

"Oh please," Lisa said. "Yes please, get it out of me."

" **I will be placing you in a deep sleep. When next you awaken it will be after we have removed the symbiote** ," Kelmaa said.

Lisa smiled and said, "Thank you," as tears fell from her eyes. Kelmaa took out a device and placed on Lisa's neck. " **This will keep her asleep as long as required. I will ask the Furlings to transport her to the Stargate and take her to the Tok'ra for the removal of the symbiote. I realize you might wish to question the symbiote, but are you willing to risk the host's mind**?"

"She's the most important part of this, besides we still have the other one if we need to know anything," Gibbs said. "Thank you for helping her."

Kelmaa nodded and went to contact the Furlings.

"There is a complication," Two said. When One and Three looked up, Two continued. "The pawn sent to the Pylean dimension. If we are to make use of her in the future, we will have to arrange her return. The death of the Ram has caused the situation to deteriorate much too quickly."

"Send a vision to the seer," One said. "If they do not move to rescue her we will be forced to send one of our servants."

"If this has occurred what of the other forces of the Wolf and the Hart?" Three asked.

"The Hart has retreated and sealed itself off," Two said. "The Wolf is consolidating its new power. The Circle of the Black Thorn may become a problem. Several of their members see the current situation as ideal for advancing their own agendas."

"Send warnings to their Seers," One said. "Make them believe that if they cause problems now, we will intercede directly."

"Intercession is not an option," Three said. "However, as long as they believe it is, the ploy should work. Have any of our servants brought new information?"

"Nothing yet," One replied. The three powers left to continue their work.


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 30

Cordelia had put it off long enough, she knew she should go see Harmony. She really didn't want to. But finally, she couldn't make any more excuses for herself. Cordelia had stopped at the Sunnydale Butcher shop, picking up five pounds of the beef flank. Since Harmony was now a pure meat eater she wanted to bring something nice as a peace offering.

Cordelia was going alone to visit Harmony. Since Amy had never been Harmony's friend, she really hadn't wanted to come. Cordelia arrived at the Farm where they had moved Harmony, at least until they could figure out what to do with her. Cordelia was surprised to see someone she knew there: Jonathan. Getting out of her car, Cordelia went up to the newest Scooby, "Jono," Cordelia said. "What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Cordelia," Jono said. "I heard from Amy you were coming out here, and I kind of wanted to check out the Unicorn. I mean I know it's supposed to be Harmony, but it's a unicorn. How cool is that?" Jonathan saw the dripping package, "Ah, whatever you have seems to be leaking… blood?"

Cordelia shook her head, "You do know that Harmony may look like a Unicorn, but apparently she's carnivorous," Cordelia laughed. "Well, she always was a man-eater. Now it's literal."

Jonathan gulped, "Oh, I hadn't heard that. Still, I'm here now, do you mind if I go in with you?"

"Sure," Cordelia said. "If there's one thing I've learned here, it's the more the merrier." The two of them went into the stables that Colonel O'Neill had appropriated from the city. The last two owners had died from _wild animal attacks_ , and currently the city had owned it.

Walking in they could see Harmony, "She's beautiful," Jonathan said. Cordelia had to admit she was. She was a glossy ebony black. Her white mane and tail were a stark contrast to her coat. In the center of her head was her silver horn. She was running in one of the pastures. Cordelia and Jono went up to the fence and waited while watching her.

Harmony had been enjoying the freedom of being able to run. She was a unicorn and yes, her vision was weird. And she didn't have hands like she used to, but it was her dream come true. As she was running she smelt something: blood, it was so delicious. She turned her head and saw over by the fence Cordelia was standing with some loser. But the delicious aroma was coming from that direction. Harmony followed her nose right up to Cordelia.

"Cordelia," Harmony said. "Did you bring me something yummy?" Seeing Harmony talk was disconcerting. She might look like a horse in many respects but her mouth did not have teeth designed for herbivores. The front teeth were almost human like, but the places where the canines would have been in a human showed fangs. Even the rear molars were sharp, designed for tearing flesh.

"Hi, Harmony," Cordelia said. "I brought this for you," Cordelia held up the beef she had purchased this morning.

"OH, yummy," Harmony said. "Gimme, gimme, gimme!" Cordelia almost laughed as she carefully extended the bleeding meat towards Harmony. Harmony's eyes had a red tint to them, She snatched the meat out of Cordelia's hands.

"Hey," Cordelia said. Harmony wasn't paying any attention.` She was using her front legs in a way that would have been impossible for a horse. She had leaned down and was holding the meat between her two claws, and she had something like elbows that allowed her greater control of how she held the meat.

"Wow," Jonathan said. "This never made it into any of the myths." Jonathan looked slightly green as he watched and heard Harmony eating. She almost sounded like she was having sex based on the noises she was making.

It took Harmony less than two minutes to eat five pounds of beef. As she stood back up her tongue licked her muzzle. It was longer and more flexible than any horses. It almost looked like a dog's tongue.

"Oh that was yummy," Harmony said. "And how did you know I was here, Cordy? Last time I saw you, you were getting ready to go to LA. Didn't make it as a movie star?"

"Not even trying anymore, Harmony," Cordelia said. "I came into better opportunities and am back in Sunnydale for now, at least until some of our companies get off the ground."

"Right sure," Harmony said, "You don't need to lie to me, Cordy." Harmony stopped speaking she focused on Jonathan. She inhaled several times. Her pupils become dilated, as she stared at Jonathan. Harmony licked her lips. She moved closer to him. "Hi good looking, I'm Harmony," She said. Harmony was obviously trying to use moves she would have used as a human female. Unfortunately, she was in a horse-shaped body. It just didn't work. "What's your name?" Harmony asked coyly.

Jonathan wasn't sure what was going on, but he knew he was very uncomfortable. "Ah, I'm Jonathan," He stammered. "And Cordelia, I think I'll wait outside for you." Jonathan practically ran away from Harmony.

"Don't go, handsome," Harmony yelled out. Turning to Cordelia she said, "Who is he? Is he seeing anyone? Do you think he likes me?"

Cordelia couldn't believe what she was seeing. She really couldn't "Are you ok, Harmony?"

"Of course I'm ok," Harmony said. "Look at me! I'm a Unicorn. Now who was that hunk and is he single? Because Mamma likes."

Cordelia was sure that this was the strangest conversation she had ever heard. "Ah, Harmony," Cordelia said. "That was Jonathan Levinson, you remember from High School. You used to call him a loser, remember?"

Harmony shook her head, "What could I have been thinking?" she said. "I mean, did you smell him? God, I want him so bad. Do you think he'd be interested in me?"

Cordelia really didn't know how to answer that. "Do you mean to date?" She had to ask.

"Well, Duh," Harmony said. "God he smells so incredible." Harmony had her nose near where Jonathan had been standing. "Please Cordy, try and find out if he'd want to go out with me? Please?"

"Ah," Cordelia said. "I'll try, Harmony, but no promises. I think he may be seeing someone right now."

Harmony's eyes flashed red. "Well, he can dump whatever slut thinks she's going to get him. He's going to be mine!"

"Right," Cordelia said. "OK, I'll see what I can find out. So, how are you doing? Are you happy?"

"I'm a Unicorn," Harmony squealed. "Of course I'm happy about that. But maybe you could help find my Auntie? Rosendork was here the other day, and she hasn't been able to do anything. But I just know you'd be able to find my Auntie. Can you look for her please?"

"Hey," Cordelia said. "First of all, Willow is my friend. You call her anything like that again and I'll make sure no one helps you. Second, of all, I am not going looking for Drusilla. If she wants to find you she can do it on her own."

"What?" Harmony screamed. "Since when are you friends with losers? I mean you dated Harris for a while and while he had a great bod, he was still one of the freaky losers."

"Harmony," Cordelia said. "Listen very closely." Cordelia's voice was very quiet but filled with menace; the wind started to pick up but only around her hair. "One, Buffy, Willow, and Xander have saved the world more times than you can count. Two, I am lucky that they consider me not just a friend, but family. Three, the worst mistake I ever made was letting go of Xander Giles. And Four, if you ever call any of them names again I will rip that hide off of you, and leave you bleeding but not dead where you stand." Lights had started to spark around Cordelia.

Harmony's eyes widened with fear. She could feel the power rolling off of Cordelia. She bowed down touching her horn and muzzle to the ground, "I'm Sorry, I'm so sorry, please forgive me, Cordy. I promise it'll never happen again. I'm sorry!" Harmony was crying as she squeezed her eyes shut.

"I'll be back some other time, Harmony," Cordelia said. Harmony didn't open her eyes until she felt Cordelia's power leave.

Cordelia walked out of the stable to her car. Jonathan was waiting. She could tell he had seen everything. Deciding to cut him off before he could ask any uncomfortable questions, Cordelia said. "So Harmony wanted to know if you were single and if you would be interested in her?"

Jonathan felt his brain freeze. "What?" he cried out. "How, Why… Oh God, just kill me now."

Cordelia laughed, his reaction had definitely helped her to calm down, "It's ok, Jono, I'm sure as long as you stay away from her she'll soon forget about you. I mean she's a horse with a horn now. It's not like she can come track you down. Don't worry about it, everything will be fine."

Jonathan nodded his head, "You're right, I mean what could she do? She's stuck here. And she doesn't even know where I live. Thanks, Cordelia. So what else are you doing today?"

"Meeting with Bragi," Cordelia said. "They think they've solved the learning problems. So all of us are going up to the _Bautarsteinn_. I know you were there when we talked about that remember?"

"Oh, yeah,' Jonathan said. "Sorry, it must have slipped my mind. Still just think about it soon you'll know more about science and technology than anyone else on Earth."

Cordelia nodded, "Can't wait. So want to follow me back to the Base?"

Jonathan nodded, "Hey Cordelia," he said. Cordelia turned to look at him. "Thanks, for you know, ah, thanks."

Cordelia shook her head, "Whatever it is Jono, you're welcome. Now come on time to go learn how to take over the world." Cordelia smiled her megawatt smile and went to her car. Jonathan followed her all the way back to the base.

Warren felt himself waking up, He opened Lisa's eyes but couldn't hear her. " **Where am I** ," he asked. The room he was in was unfamiliar. It looked like it had been constructed out of crystal.

Several people were standing there looking at him. " **You are in the presence of the Tok'ra high council** ," The man in front said. " **I am Garshaw of Belote, leader of the Tok'ra. Do you have any final words to say before you are sentenced for the theft of your host's body, and the torture of her mind**?"

Warren tried to bluff his way out, " **Look you've got it all wrong. The little bitch lied. I haven't raped her. And I told her once I figured out how to change bodies I would. So just let me go and we'll call it even**."

"There is no remorse in Warren Mears," Another of the people said. "I call for the vote. Death or return the symbiote to the water? I vote death"

Slowly the seven other people voted, Garshaw was the last to speak. " **Know that we do not do this out of malice. It was not your fault that your first host was evil. However, we must recognize the truth. You are flawed, and we can not allow you to live. I vote death. The council's decision is unanimous. Extract the symbiote that we may free the host**."

Warren started to scream, but a Zat'nik'tel fired on him. He was unconscious for the remainder of his life.

Lisa slowly felt herself waking up, she tentatively opened her eyes and looked around. She was in a bed, and standing near her was a woman. But most of all she couldn't hear 'Him' right now. "Is he gone?" Lisa asked.

"Yes," The woman replied. "We extracted the symbiote, Warren Mears, several hours ago. We have been waiting for you to wake up before we executed the symbiote for its crimes. I am Freya, host of Anise. It was decided that we will be accompanying you back to the Tau'ri and the Furlings. While you are here, I will be your guide. Would you care to come with me now to witness the destruction of Warren Mears?"

"You said you're a host," Lisa said. "So that means you have one of those snake things in you too?"

"Yes," Freya said. "However, not all symbiotes are alike. Anise is my partner, not my jailer. The Goa'uld act like the symbiote Warren Mears did, taking what they have no rights to. The Tok'ra look for those who would blend with them. Sharing life as partners, not as Master and Slave." Freya laughed. "I am sorry, but many find my Partner Anise to be very, abrasive. She has a bit of a problem when others do not listen to her wisdom. Because after all she knows much more than they do."

"You mean she's bossy," Lisa asked. "Like Warren was?"

"No. Warren Mears was a criminal," Freya said. "Anisa would scold and try to make you understand why she was obviously right. And I am afraid once she knows what the truth is she is very stubborn." Freya laughed again.

"Why do you keep laughing?" Lisa asked.

"Because Anise is talking to me," Freya said. "She insists that she is only doing what is right and that everyone else would be better off listening to her."

Lisa actually laughed at that, "So she isn't like Warren making you do only what she wants?"

"No," Freya said. "To the Tok'ra what was done to you is a crime, worse than what you Tau'ri call 'Rape'. It is why they oppose the Goa'uld."

"Could I meet her?" Lisa asked. She wanted to meet Anise. _Then Maybe I won't have to be afraid_ Lisa thought.

Freya nodded then bowed her head, closing her eyes. When she opened them again they were glowing white, just like Lisa's had when Warren was controlling her. " **Greetings child, I am Anise of the Tok'ra. And I must say, I am not Bossy as my host Freya says. It is merely logical that others pay heed to my wisdom**."

Lisa giggled again, Anisa sounded like one of her old neighbors, Mrs. Frump. She was always telling all the kids how she knew better and they should listen to her. She had been nice, though. "Ah, I'm pleased to meet you," Lisa said.

" **I highly doubt that** ," Anise said. " **You have been through a traumatic experience with my species. I would think you are still very much afraid of the Tok'ra. However, we shall do all that we can to put your mind at ease. Once we have witnessed the death of the symbiote, 'Warren Mears' I will accompany you back through the Chapa'i. Back to the place called Sunnydale.** "

"Do I have to go back?" Lisa asked. "I mean to Sunnydale because the Detective was only letting me live with him so he could fuck me. And I don't have anywhere to go in Sunnydale."

" **By 'Fuck' you mean that this 'Detective' was trading sexual favors for his protection**?" Anise asked.

"Well ya," Lisa said. "He said if I didn't let him he would send me back, to ah where I ran away from. So it was better to let him, then to go back."

Anise seemed to be thinking about something, or possibly talking to Freya. She bowed her head and when she raised it again Freya was back, "Anise is unfamiliar with many social issues among humans. She had difficulty understanding why a trading of services would be considered wrong, or inappropriate. To most of the Tok'ra and humans you may encounter the fact that you are almost physically mature would indicate that you have the right to enter into these agreements for yourself. I, however, remember why I chose to become a host, and I know that at times doing something that is uncomfortable or frightening is better than staying where you are."

"You were forced to become a host," Lisa asked.

"No I chose to become one," Freya said. "But I was still afraid of what would happen. Even on my home planet, we had heard of the Goa'uld. It wasn't until I blended with Anise that I understood the difference." Freya looked Lisa over. "Now come, you must get dressed, and we shall go witness the destruction of Warren Mears. Once we return to the Tau'ri's home planet I will speak with General Hammond to see what options are available to you."

Lisa nodded while getting out of the bed. She dressed in the strange clothes that the Tok'ra had left her. Freya had to help Lisa with understanding how the garments should be worn. The ceremony to destroy Warren was actually very short. There were about Forty people in a room, and Lisa saw a man holding a jar in the air. He said some words about the crimes that Warren Mears had committed, then he tipped the jar over. Lisa stepped back in fear at seeing the symbiote again it withered on the ground until the man named Garshaw stepped on it.

Lisa felt herself crying. "He's really dead?" Lisa whispered.

Freya placed one arm over her shoulder, "Yes, he is truly dead. His body will be disposed of using Zat'nik'tel so there will be no chance of reviving him." Lisa found Freya to be a very nice person, as the woman led her away so that they could return to Earth.

McGee had finally found something. In looking over the recent police reports he found the report of a boat that had been stolen, the night or morning that the Initiative base had been retaken. He grabbed the folder and headed to where Booth was working. "Booth," McGee called out. "I think I've found out how Hathor got away."

"What do you got, McGee?" Booth asked.

"Two days after the base was retaken," McGee said. "There was a report from the local marina that one of their boats was taken. Based on timeframes it looks like it happened either the night of the fight or the early morning hours afterward."

"Alright," Booth said. "Let's get some people to the marina. Find out if they had any surveillance video, and look around for anything out of place. If they drove to the marina maybe they left a vehicle that we can pull prints from."

Within three hours they had found the car that Hathor had used to escape in. It took another two hours to pull prints from the vehicle, one of which was Margaret Walsh. And while the marina did not have any security cameras, one of the boats on the same pier did have one. That took almost a full day to track down the owner and get a subpoena for the video. Once they had reviewed it they knew they were on the right track.

Gibbs was sitting with Colonel O'Neill and his team, as well as Booth and Gibbs' own team from NCIS. "So she still has one of those creatures," Gibbs said. "And she and it's escaped into the Pacific Ocean. How do we want to handle this? Normally I'd alert the Coast Guard and put up Bolos to any and all marinas. But she has one of those creatures, plus that hand weapon."

"A Kara Kesh," Sam said. "Also the creature was carrying supplies. I would guess that it was a supply of Nish'ta which means she will be able to control almost anyone she came in contact with."

"How smart is she going to be about planning her next move?" Gibbs asked. "Normally a weeks time would be more than enough to lose any possibilities of our finding her quickly if she does the smart thing."

"William Forest," Booth said. "That was the name of the man who is now that thing. If he still has his human brain, it will be difficult to find her. He has done the Army SERE[a] course. He was also a Ranger, graduated in the top twenty percent of his class."

"Will she listen to him?" Gibbs asked.

"Hathor's like most of the snakes," Jack said. "They're all megalomaniacs. But some of them do know how to listen. If we don't find her quickly I think we need to assume she's taking advice from people who actually know what they're doing."

"Sir," Sam said. "If we put up a watch for her boat, I can also flag a program to try and trace any tracks that the DEA has from when we think she escaped. It might cut down on where we are looking for Hathor."

Jack looked at Gibbs, "That work for you? I'll admit I'm more of a bomb them from forty-thousand feet than track-a-single-ship guy. So anything you might think of; speak up."

"Unless she's stupid," Gibbs said, "we're not going to find her quickly. She has too much of a head start, and the profile and psych reports indicate Walsh was very intelligent. We're going to have to bring in other resources. If only to watch for any chatter that might indicate where she went to."

"Anyone you'd recommend?" Jack asked.

"Maybe," Gibbs said. "She's one of the best, but her team deals more with covert investigations than mine. I would need to talk with the Director for NCIS to see if I can pull her."

"Nope," Jack said. "I've got carte blanche for this. If you say you need whoever this is, she and her team can be pulled. Take Major Davis and get to wherever you need to go."

"She's based out of Los Angeles," Gibbs said. "I'll call her today and set up a meeting for tomorrow. I want her to bring her entire team. We can hand this off to them."

"Anything else?" Jack asked. When it appeared that was the only critical issue, Jack said. "Good work on everything so far. You and your team were brought in late and have been working overtime to catch up. I'm impressed."

Gibbs nodded, the rest of the team felt they could wholeheartedly agree with Colonel O'Neill's words. It had been difficult to believe everything they had been told. But they had adapted and overcome.

Harmony was upset, it had been three days since Cordelia and the Hunk had visited her. And she knew Cordelia had been lying. Jonathan Levinson was a geeky loser. But the Man she had been with was so sexy. "I bet Cordy's trying to keep him for herself," Harmony thought. "Just like always she has to try and hog the best guys. Well, it's not going to happen, I'm going to find him and make him mine!" Harmony began to plan how she could find her man.

"What the bloody hell happened to me," Doyle said. He looked around, "I'm in a bloody forest, why am I in a bloody forest?" Doyle tried to remember how he got here, "Christ, what's the last thing I remember?" A flash of Cordelia, him kissing her. Then the scourge and the flash of white light. "If this is heaven then I've been gypped," Doyle said. "Although I might just be crazy because I'm talking to meself." Doyle shifted the backpack he was wearing, although he didn't remember where he had gotten it from either, and the damn thing was heavy.

The bushes to the side rustled and a young girl in furs and obviously needing a bath looked out. "I talk to myself all the time," she said. "Are you real? Or am I imagining things again? I could be imagining things, I mean it's happened a lot since I got here. Although why I would imagine green men with horns who call humans cows I don't know. I don't think I was ever interested in being a slave. I mean that's way too kinky for me." Fred continued to ramble, then looking up at Doyle said. "Oh, you're still here, are you really real then?"

"I'm real enough," Doyle said to the crazy lady. "Do you know where we are, and how did I get here? The last thing I knew I was in Los Angeles."

"Really," Fred said. "I'm a student at UCLA! At least I was, but I think they probably expelled me since I came here almost four years ago. Do you have any tacos? I really miss tacos."

"Sorry, no tacos," Doyle said. "I'm Francis Doyle, but everyone calls me Doyle. Who are you and where are we?"

"Oh," Fred said standing up. "That's right I have a name, it's… wait, wait I know I know this," she smiled. "It's just I really haven't talked to anyone in a long time and since I usually just talk to myself I really don't use my name I mean how crazy would that be if I kept calling myself Fred when I talked? Oh, that's it, my name is Fred."

"Funny," Doyle said. "You don't look like a Fred to me."

"No I'm Fred," Fred insisted. "Winifred Burkle. But no one calls me that. No one really calls me anything although the Pyleans call me a cow, but I don't like them calling me a cow. And they call all humans cows. Which might be racist or speciest, I'm not sure which."

"Ok, Fred," Doyle said. "Who are the Pyleans?"

"They're the demons that run this place," Fred said as if it was obvious. "I think this is their world. I mean I know it's not Earth because Earth only has one moon. Although I did consider the possibility that this was a parallel Earth that had humanoid creatures evolving from dinosaurs. But I think I ruled that out because none of the other planets that should be in our solar system are here. I mean I don't have a telescope but you can sometimes see other planets in the night sky. And Pylea has two moons."

"OK, Fred, So we are on another world, probably a demon dimension," Doyle said. "How'd you get here?"

"I was in the library," Fred said. "Professor Seidel he had asked me to return a bunch of books to the library for him. I was putting them away, and then read one of them and this portal opened and I was here. Is that what happened to you?"

"No," Doyle said. "I'm pretty sure I died."

"Oh," Fred said. "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Ah, thanks," Doyle said. "But this isn't Heaven, and it doesn't seem bad enough to be Hell. So I think I'm supposed to do something. Now I haven't gotten a vision, but I'm going to guess whatever I'm supposed to do involves you. So I don't suppose you know how to get back to Earth?"

"Well," Fred said. "I've had a few ideas. But really, the math works. The problem is getting into the Castle. Because I'm pretty sure that I'd have to be inside the Castle in order to get home."

"So," Doyle said. "We've got to storm a castle, in order for you, the Fair Maiden, to get us home? Right, no problem at all."

The sound of a horn could be heard in the distance. "Oh, we'd better go," Fred said. "That's a hunting party. They're probably looking for me. They don't like it that I keep escaping, and even though it's been over a year since I last escaped they keep trying to find me." Fred took off into the trees forcing Doyle to follow her.

Once Fred led him into one of her caves, Doyle sat down looking around, the walls were covered in complex mathematical formulas. "You're a bloody genius, aren't you?"

Fred blushed, "Well people would say that, but really I'm just a normal girl."

"Right, normal," Doyle said. "So all of this is how you figured everything out?"

"Well, of course, I used a shadow to calculate the circumference of Pylea and realized it's actually much too large to be Earth. And I've stolen some of the books the priest had. But I lost them the last time they captured me. So I know they control the portals."

"Priest, what priests?" Doyle asked.

"They're the priest of The Wolf, The Ram, and The Hart," Fred said. "I've never heard of any God called that. But I mean I grew up in Texas and we had Jesus, And you had the old testament, God. But really I don't know a whole lot of Gods."

"Oh Shite," Doyle said. "Wolf, Ram, and Hart are three demon Gods. So we're stuck in a Hell dimension controlled by them."

"Wolfram and Hart," Fred laughed, "That sounds like it should be a law firm, not the names of three Gods."

"Yeah," Doyle said. "On Earth, they are a law firm. A completely evil law firm mind ya, but still a law firm."

"You're shitting me," Fred said.

"Nope. God's honest truth, Luv,' Doyle said. "So, any ideas on how we could sneak into the castle?"

"No way to do it," Fred said. "Any human going near the castle has to be with a demon. Otherwise, they'll be killed. Boom, head explodes."

"They have a spell to explode people's heads?" Doyle asked.

"No that's what the slave collars are for. Just if a human isn't with a demon they set off the collar," Fred explained.

"Right," Doyle said. "And the demons, does it have to be one of these Pylean demons? Or is any old demon good enough to get in?"

"Ah, I think it's just anyone not human," Fred said. "I heard that there are sometimes other kinds of demons that show up at the castle."

"Well let's see what we have to work with," Doyle said opening his mysterious backpack. Doyle started taking out things that were inside the large camping backpack. "MRE's? What the bloody hell are MRE's?" he asked.

"Oh," Fred said excitedly. "Meals Ready to Eat. Do you have any Mexican food?"

"I don't know but there's a lot of them," Doyle said. "And something isn't right here." Looking at the backpack and everything he had taken out. The size didn't match. "There's too much stuff here for this to work right. I mean look at it," Doyle pointed to the pile of things. "All of this shouldn't have fit in here."

"Yes!" Fred said. "Beef Enchilada!" She held up a packet. "Oh, Can I please have this?"

"Ah, sure, course you can," Doyle said. Doyle kept going through the bag. "What the hell?" He exclaimed pulling out two pistol belts that looked like they came from a western. Looking at them Doyle said. "Well, we now are armed. Four guns, if only I knew how to use the bloody things!"

"It's easy," Fred said while watching her food heat up. Doyle looked at her like she was even crazier. "Heh," Fred said in protest. "I grew up in Texas. We go shooting for fun. And Daddy took me hunting every year."

"Well that's good," Doyle conceded. Reaching into the backpack Doyle pulled out the last few items. "OK, someone has a sick sense of humor." He had two books, Pylea for Dummies and Portals for Dummies. Both had pictures of the three Stooges on the front.

"You have books," Fred said with lust in her voice. "Please, can I read one of them? It's been so long since I've read a book."

"Sure Fred," Doyle said passing her the portal book. "Knock yourself out."

"No thanks," Fred absently. "I'll settle for just reading." Fred squealed in delight as her food was ready. Doyle watched her eat. She looked like she was going to orgasm from just tasting the food. Doyle took the large two man sleeping bag and lay it down in the area that looked like what Fred used for a bed. Sitting down he started to read _Pylean for Dummies_

Fred was almost in Heaven. To actually be in Heaven would have required tacos, running water, toilets and the other comforts of home. But she had just eaten Mexican food. And she had a book, a real book. The book was interesting: it talked about spacial math, cross-dimensional variables and how you could escape from a closed or restricted system. The only problem she saw was that most of the escape routes required a patron Deity of some kind. The book even had a couple of example rituals to find a patron Deity. She knew they were jokes because the book had the three Stooges on the front and the ritual would end up with Shemp being her God.

Still, it was interesting to read. Fred stayed up later than she had in years. She had two pistols by her side, and Doyle wanted to share the sleeping bag, although he had promised no hanky-panky. He wasn't bad looking and to tell the truth, and if Fred had bathed recently she might have been up for at least some hanky, or maybe even some panky.

Fred closed her eyes mumbling the words to the silly ritual.

Harmony was hunting. She had jumped the fences keeping her in. It had been really easy since they were designed for horses, not unicorns. She started following something that just seemed to scream to her "Hunk That Way!" She wandered down the roads, turning when she felt the need to. It took her several hours of walking in the dark before she came to a large fence that she was sure she wouldn't be able to climb. It had barbed wire at the top and signs posted to 'Keep Out' and 'Military Personnel Only'.

"How rude," Harmony complained. "My Hunk is in there. And if they think some signs and a fence are going to keep me out they don't know who they're messing with!"

Harmony tried to figure out a way to get in. After an hour she was out of ideas. To be honest she had never come up with a single idea beyond, "I'm a Unicorn they have to let me in!" She leaned up against the fence, Harmony started crying. "Please, Auntie show me how to get in. I need to find my Hunk." Harmony squeezed her eyes shut her full weight resting on the fence. She felt herself falling over. Harmony scrambled, trying to hold out her hands so that she wouldn't fall. She was shocked that it worked. And that she had hands again, sort of. Harmony looked down at herself. She wasn't a Unicorn. She was female, obviously, she had her tits back. But her skin was still a jet black. And her hair was white. Feeling her forehead she felt a tiny nub of her horn.

"It's just like in the Last Unicorn," Harmony said. "I turned human so I can get my man!" Harmony smiled, showing she still had very sharp teeth. She started walking in the direction she knew her man was in. Harmony kept to the shadows when she could, it would have been funny but none of the guards could actually see her. Even when they were looking directly at Harmony, they didn't see her.

Finally, Harmony arrived at the house. She could smell him, her Hunk was here. She tried turning the doorknob but it was stuck. She put a little more force into it and the thing finally opened Harmony didn't even notice that she had completely broken the door handle to force it open.

Harmony stalked into the house and followed the hallway to a closed bedroom door. Opening it the smell hit her. God, he was amazing. His smell was turning her on so much. If she had been wearing any clothes Harmony would have already started to take them off. Entering the room, she saw him lying in bed. He was only wearing a pair of boxers. And he was going to be hers. She moved onto the bed, pressing herself up against him she started kissing his face and chest.

Jonathan had been exhausted when he went to sleep. Working with Willow was awesome, and she was taking his ideas and letting him design things he could have only done for a D&D campaign. When Jonathan felt someone kissing him, his brain knew he was dreaming. His body was saying something different, but obviously, his body was crazy. Jonathan opened his eyes and saw a beautiful female drow. She had black skin and white hair like a Drow. Her eyes were red, not purple but and she had some silver jewel on her head.

"I'm dreaming," Jonathan said.

"Oh, no lover," Harmony assured him. "I'm here and you are mine. God, you are so hot!" Harmony kept kissing down his chest, reaching his boxers she started pulling them off of him. Harmony laughed, "I knew you wanted me." She grabbed his member and started fondling him while kissing him.

Somehow while she was french kissing him, and Jonathan quickly figured out her teeth were sharp! She lightly trailed her nails down his chest with one hand while the other kept a firm hold of his cock.

"This isn't a dream is it?" A fearful yet highly aroused Jonathan asked.

"Oh, It's a dream come true," Harmony assured him. "I've wanted you for so long. I had to find you, and tonight I'm going to make you mine." Harmony pushed him back on the bed and mounted him. She yelled out in pleasure as he entered her.

Jonathan couldn't believe this, he was having sex, ok sex with a female drow who might kill him if he didn't satisfy her, but sex, real sex for the first time ever he was having sex! He still managed to say, "You're not going to kill me when your done are you?"

Harmony laughed in between moans, "Kill you? Never, you're mine now. You belong to me forever and ever." At that point Jonathan did what any self respecting, twenty-year-old virgin, nerd would do; he stopped thinking, stopped questioning, and just enjoyed the ride. "After all," he thought, "What's the worst that can happen?"

"What is the status," Three asked.

"The seer did not respond," Two said. "I was forced to send the former seer, we had not disposed of his soul yet. I sent him to Pylea to aid the pawn in staying alive. He should make it possible for her to survive another four years without our involvement. He will most likely perish again."

"A prudent use of our resources," One said, complimenting Two. "It cost us nothing and the resource will return to us."

"Agreed," Three said. "The humans of America and Britain are aware of the Furlings. They have been talking with them about sharing technology."

"This can not be allowed," One said. "How could they have the knowledge to share in the first place? But if they have it then they will try and remove themselves from our sphere of influence."

"Calm yourself," Two said. "Even if they have the knowledge they are not aware of what would be needed to keep us from controlling them. I recommend we wait. We can direct Apophis to the knowledge left by the Ancients. That would be more than enough to defeat the human and anything they may learn from the Furlings."

"That is too much," Three said. "Apophis is too bloodthirsty, he would take out the humans and kill them all. Choose another, to gain the knowledge."

"What of Yu?" Suggested One. "He treats his slaves fairly well for a Goa'uld, and would be content to rule the humans rather than destroy them. Once he has taken care of our problems we can remove him easily enough through simple mortality. He is old enough that not even other Goa'uld would suspect an outside hand. If we strengthen the Tok'ra then it would be easy enough to increase their numbers to push out the Goa'uld. But the Tok'ra would never accept humans as equals. They will try and watch over them as if the humans are children."

"You propose letting them learn of Egeria," Two asked.

"Yes," One answered. "She is old and will most likely die soon enough for our purposes... But that will give the Tok'ra the numbers they need to take Earth from Lord Yu's forces, once he is dead. So if we arrange for the Humans to find Egeria first; that will make the Tok'ra feel indebted to them. Simply change their schedule so that the next world they explore will be Pangar. They will encounter her and call in the Tok'ra. She has at most a handful of years left before she will die. And since the Tok'ra do not use the Goa'uld healing chambers it will be enough to bolster their numbers temporarily."

Within the SGC the dialing program had its system changed. Instead of reaching the planet where Unas were treated as the Devil, the gate dialed Pangar. In the Jade palace of Lord Yu, a Jaffa servant rushed to inform his Master Lord Yu that they have discovered a cache of Ancient technology on one of the minor worlds under his control. Lord Yu was pleased with his servant. As a reward he elevated him to the rank of High Councilor for the world in question. Lord You ordered him to take as many of the best minds from the scribes as needed to decipher the secrets hidden by the Ancients.

Lilah Morgan continued to stand in the Black Room, her body rigid as the little girl that wasn't fed off of her pain.

A whisper is floating on the wind, something terrible is coming. Vampires the world over knew that some horrible creature was hunting them down. It started a week ago, the nest would disappear. Nothing was left, and it wasn't a slayer. The Aurelius line was dying, any vampire of that line disappeared, and any vampires that were with them disappeared. Some of the nests decided to make the smart move. They threw any vampires from the Aurelius line out. They staked them to the ground to wait for the morning Sun. Then they prayed that whatever was killing them would pass them over.

Jonathan slowly came awake as the sun filtered through the blinds in his room. He felt the arm that was draped over his chest. Looking down he saw the female drow from the night before. God, she was hot. Seriously hot, Cordelia and the Cordettes hot. Jonathan tried to move her hand off of his chest. The sleeping girl just pulled him closer. Damn, she was stronger than she looked. Jonathan really needed to go to the bathroom now. "Ah, miss Drow," he said gently shaking the girl's shoulder. "Look I'm sorry but I really need to go to the bathroom."

Harmony opened her eyes, she felt so good. And her Hunk was right here. She smiled at him, "Good Morning, Lover," Harmony said.

"Yeah, Good Morning," Jonathan said. "Look can you let me go? Please? I really need to use the bathroom."

"Alright but you better come right back," Harmony said.

Jonathan nodded and hurried to the bathroom. His mind was still in shock, the hot Drow hadn't killed him. And she wanted him to spend more time with her. Sure he had been hoping something might happen with Amy but really it might have been a long shot at best.

Coming back into his bedroom he saw the Drow stretching, she was beautiful. "Ah Hi," Jonathan said. "I'm sorry but what's your name?"

"I'll tell you my name if you tell me yours first," Harmony flirted.

"Ah my friends call me Jono," Jonathan said. He knew it was never a good idea to tell your name to a demon so Jono would work.

"Well, Jono," Harmony said standing up and walking towards him. "I think from now on we will be the very best of friends. Because I want you to make love to me like we did last night every night."

"Ah, OK," Jono said with a goofy smile. "But you still haven't told me your name."

"Harmony," Harmony said. "Harmony Kendall."

Jonathan wasn't sure how he should be reacting. This gorgeous creature in front of him had realistically speaking fucked his brains out last night. And she wanted to keep doing it. But she just said she was Harmony Kendall, who the last he had seen was a Unicorn, not a Drow. And she had helped make High School a living Hell. But she was screwing him, could he overlook her past?

Jonathan looked at Harmony, the small silver jewel must be her horn, he thought. And God she's hot. "Harmony weren't you a unicorn?"

"Harmony smiled, "You remembered me," she said. "I'm still a Unicorn, but really how could we have mind blowing sex if I'm always a unicorn? I had to find you so I hunted you down. And I had to get into where you were so I changed into this form."

"And can you change back?" Jonathan asked.

"Well not right here, silly," Harmony said. "I need more space to change, but don't you worry. From now on whenever we are together, I am going to make love to you, until you beg me to stop. Now I need you to get me some clothes because I don't have any anymore. And you'll need to take me shopping so that I have sexy clothes to wear for you. So let's have sex again then shower and then you can take me shopping."

Somewhere in the back of Jonathan's mind, he heard someone laughing at him.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
[a]Survival Evasion Resistance and Escape School

A quick update.

Unfortunately, this is my busy time at work. The favorite time of the year for all of those criminals trying to scam and defraud people. This means I have not had as much time to write as I would have liked. Right now I am looking at finishing this story in the next chapter or two. This is partially due to not wanting to maintain two story lines. It sounds good in the beginning but very hard to maintain. SG-1 Comes to Sunnydale will move forward until it is almost time for Dawn to be born. Then I will have to start a new story for what happens with Dawn being born and her Maturation.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Disclaimers: I do not own Buffy, MASH, Stargate, Charmed, NCIS, Bones. I can not even claim any original characters for this story.

This is purely written for fun and not for profit. Just my take on a what if.

And a HUGE DEBT of gratitude to DavidEmpey. He has graciously volunteered to help Beta. Any mistakes found they're all on me.

Thank you to all those who have recommended this story,

Also Please leave a review if you like the story. It really is encouraging, at least to me.

Chapter 31

Fred woke up, feeling someone next to her. At first she started to panic, then remembered. She wasn't alone: Doyle had shown up yesterday. And he had food, real food. Beef Enchiladas. And she wasn't cold because he had a sleeping bag. Fred giggled, "Wow," she said. "I wonder what's going to happen next?"

"Ah, let me have five more minutes," Doyle mumbled.

Fred looked at him, _He's not bad looking. And he's certainly better looking than any of the humans I've seen around here. And he's from Earth. I just hope we can get home._

Fred got out of the sleeping bag and stirred her fire. It had taken a lot of work to make sure the smoke would dissipate through the caves, instead of giving her position away, but it was so worth it. She sat down and started reading _**Portals for Dummies**_ from where she had stopped. She read for almost an hour until Doyle finally woke up.

"Morning Fred," Doyle said.

"Hi Doyle," Fred said. "So I thought that today I'd try and get a bath. And I was hoping you'd be a look out for me?"

"You want me to watch you take a bath?" Doyle asked. "Really, I'm flattered but… "

"No," Fred said. "Keep a look out. Pylea can be dangerous, and being alone means I don't get many chances to really get clean. So keep a lookout for any of the demons. If you see them coming towards us we can hide, or since we now have weapons shoot them!"

"Not that I'm not for killing evil demons," Doyle said. "But we don't have a whole lot of bullets."

Fred laughed at Doyle, "You're funny."

"What's so funny?" Doyle asked.

Fred picked up one of the 'bullets'. "This is a round. The bullet is the little part on the end. The part that goes into whatever you're shooting. Then there's the casing and the propellant. I can tell you've never really been around guns before."

"Bullet, round what's the difference?" Doyle complained.

"Well," Fred said explaining it simply. "If you just have 'bullets' without the other parts to make the round, you really have small metal rocks to throw at people."

"Alright," Doyle admitted. "I guess there is a difference. But still, we don't have a lot of them."

"We shouldn't need that many," Fred said. "These are nine-millimeter hollow point rounds. We have one thousand rounds, in these boxes and then there are ten clips attached to the belt that holds seventeen each plus the two in the guns. So that gives us twelve-hundred and four rounds of ammunition. And the largest hunting party I've seen was only sixty of the demons. So we should be good for a while."

"So Fred, just out of curiosity," Doyle said. "Do you hate all demons? Or just the ones that are trying to enslave or kill you?"

"Well," Fred said, pausing to think. "I really haven't met any good demons. But I suppose if I did, I'd like to think I'd judge them based on themselves, not on their species. Why? Are there good demons?"

"Yeah," Doyle admitted. He really didn't want to admit he was half demon but after Cordelia, he didn't want to leave it up to chance. "Quite a few of um just want to live and let live. Fact is that me own Da, he's what you call a Brachen demon."

"So you're a demon too," Fred asked.

"Hey, I'm human," Doyle protested. "On me Mother's side."

Fred laughed, "OK but you look human. Do Bracken look human?"

"Well human-like," Doyle said. "Same general shape, the same number of fingers and toes. But we do have a few things that humans don't."

"Like what?" Fred asked.

"Well Bracken are green," Doyle said. "And we have spikes."

"Spikes," Fred said. "Where are you hiding them? And you don't look very green to me!"

"Just don't freak out on me, Ok?" Doyle said. He shook his head, bringing out the Bracken in himself.

"Are you sure you're OK?" Fred asked.

"'Course I am," Doyle said. Looking down at his hands he saw they still looked human. "What the Bloody Hell?"

"Just calm down," Fred said. "I know being alone so much I sort of got a little crazy too. It's ok if you imagined you were some kind of a demon."

"I wasn't imagining anything," Doyle said. "I've been a half demon me whole life."

"Well what happened then?" Fred asked.

"Do I look like I know?" Doyle said. "Last thing I remember was dying. Then waking up here. So what happened to me demon half?"

"Um could it be because you died?" Fred suggested. "Or maybe because we're on Pylea?"

"I s'pose it could be that," Doyle admitted. "But I don't feel any weaker than I did."

"Maybe you should read your book," Fred suggested. "It might tell you what's going on."

"Sure," Doyle said. "I could do that. After we get the chance to get cleaned up. So how about we go to wherever it is you have that we can get a bath, then I'll read it later."

Jonathan was pretty sure he was in hell. Sure having sex had been great. But Harmony was still incredibly stupid. She would babble on and on, about everything. Right now he was stuck shopping with her. The weird thing was not one person had made any comments on how she looked. Even for Sunnydale, it was extreme.

And now here he was being dragged all over the Sunnydale mall. Harmony had been at this for three hours. He just wanted to leave, but she was keeping too close of an eye on him. It was weird how she had fixated on him. If only Andrew were still around. He could try to get her interested in Andrew and save himself.

"Come on Mr." Harmony said. "Time to hit Victoria's Secret. You can tell me which outfits you like best." Jonathan followed Harmony, not sure if this was Heaven or Hell.

Ira was perturbed. He had often wondered about who his Father was. But to actually meet the man, and find out that he wasn't Jewish, and he was a ghost was too much. Yes, the Torah said that you must honor your Father and Mother. But usually, you only had to put up with them until they died.

And 'Hawkeye' as his father insisted he call him, had been a far different kind of man than Ira. Both were Doctors, but Hawkeye had been a MASH surgeon. On looking up the records for the 4077 MASH unit Ira had been impressed. Hawkeye had been the longest serving Doctor in the unit. And he had saved thousands of lives with his skills. But he had also been irreverent and in many cases drunk, too often to count.

Ira had also confirmed that the Army had mistakenly informed Hawkeye's Father of his death when his mother had attempted to contact him. Ira wondered why she hadn't told the man that his son had had a son. You would think that the man would have rejoiced to find out that even though he had lost his son, his son had left progeny behind.

"So Ira," Hawkeye said. "Are you happy with your life?"

"Of course I'm happy," Ira said. "Why would you even have to ask such a question?"

"Because you don't seem happy to me," Hawkeye said. "You're constantly leaving the place you call home. For years you've neglected Willow and blinded yourself to the truth about Sunnydale. I understand taking pride in your work. But after you're dead, who's going to remember you? Some other Doctors? A few people who read your work? Will Willow have fond memories of her Father and how important he was in her life? Will she tell stories to her kids about the crazy, wonderful things her Dad did?"

"And you did so much better as a Father," Ira said.

"Ira," Hawkeye said. "If I had known about you sooner I would have done those things with you. I wasn't a perfect Father, but you can ask your Brothers and Sister, I think they'll say I was a good Dad."

Ira really couldn't argue with what Hawkeye said. He hadn't contacted his newfound family yet. He still wasn't sure what he would say. How he would explain that he was their half-brother and only now found out about them. "Easy for you to say," Ira retorted.

"Yes, it is," Hawkeye said. "I've had years stuck as a ghost unable to do anything but watch you and Willow. To think over my life and what I did wrong. What I could have done better. But we both have some time now. I'm just trying to help you, Ira. Don't make a mistake that you'll regret after you run out of time."

Ira couldn't think of a good reply to Hawkeye's words so instead he just tried to ignore him.

Hodgins was still unsure of what he should do. For the most part, his gut said he couldn't kill the symbiote inside of him. He was in a way literally giving it life. Or at the least a personality. And he couldn't deny the benefits of being a host. He was stronger and healthier than ever before. He had tested himself in the gym the Initiative had. Right now he could lift five times his own body weight. True he couldn't do it for long but the fact that he could do it at all was amazing.

His reflexes and hand-eye coordination had improved as well. And sometimes when he was trying to remember something he could almost hear himself telling him the answer that he was trying to find.

Hodgins knew he was being watched. No way was Gibbs or Colonel O'Neill going to let him walk around with a symbiote without keeping tabs on him. But they also were showing a high level of trust. After all, he wasn't sitting in one of the cells like Zack.

The door to his lab opened and Hodgins saw Kelmaa entering with a box in his hands. "Kelmaa," Hodgins said. "What brings you to see me?"

" **Hodgins** ," Kelmaa said. " **Anise finished the construction of the devices. This will show who is speaking at all times, yourself or the symbiote**."

Hodgins opened up the box. Inside was a metal collar with two sets of lights. Kelmaa helped him put it on. Once in place, it gave a slight humming sound as Kelmaa turned it on. "So how's this thing actually work?" Hodgins asked.

" **When you are speaking the lights will be golden. If the Symbiote is speaking they will be red** ," Kelmaa explained.

As Hodgins watched the collar maintained its golden glow. "Thank you," Hodgins said. "I know this should help everyone be a lot more comfortable around us. Have you already given Agent Todd hers?" After Kelmaa said that she had not done that yet, Jack said. "I'll take it to her and explain it. You can give Zack his." Kelmaa nodded and gave Hodgins the box for Agent Todd.

Janet was not happy. From the Initiative project, they had a total of thirty-nine men who had survived. And in the past week, every single one of them had ended up in her infirmary. All of them were showing signs that their immune system was collapsing. The rates of collapse were different from individual to individual, but the end point was obvious. Within the month none of the men would have an immune system left.

Janet had her suspicions that whatever was happening to them was a direct result of something that the Initiative had done to them. She had talked with Dr. Brennan and Dr. Mallard about possible causes. It had taken the forensic science team two days to find the records that showed what had been done. Every single soldier in the Initiative had been doped with Goa'uld hormones mixed with demonic biological extracts. And since they no longer were getting the drugs... just like when the Jaffa lose their symbiote, the removal of the prim'ta caused death so the lack of the drugs will kill them.

As soon as her findings had been confirmed Janet had set up a meeting with Colonel O'Neill. He had been very upset to hear what had been done to US Soldiers. That had led her to her current meeting. Arriving in the conference room, Janet could see Joyce Summers was already present, along with Anise and Freya of the Tok'ra, Dr. Brennan and Tre'ma of the Tok'ra. Everyone had read the reports.

"First I want to thank you all for meeting with me," Janet said. "I am hoping that between us we can find a way to save the men who were experimented on by Margaret Walsh. So please, any ideas will be welcome."

"Janet," Joyce began. "I've already tried to heal what's been done, but I'm afraid that the recent upgrade in knowledge has actually been detrimental to my healing abilities."

"How is that possible?" Bones asked.

"Before when I used my abilities," Joyce said. "I was operating mostly on instinct. But now I know too much and not enough. Relying on instinct is actually harder to do. If I have a clear understanding of the physical life form I am trying to heal it is very easy to do. If I have no understanding of the lifeform, it is something I can do. But if I have a partial understanding of what I am doing, it becomes very difficult to effectively heal someone. My own self-doubts cause me to be unable to heal effectively."

'So you're saying you question whether you are doing more harm than good," Ducky asked. "And this causes you to be unable to do what you are trying to accomplish?"

"Exactly," Joyce said. "And currently my knowledge of the minute details of the human endocrine system is lacking. Until I finish my studies I'm afraid I am less helpful as a healer. I can still heal anything I can truly understand but this becomes a problem when dealing with something I have limited knowledge of."

" **Interesting** ," Anise said. " **You're abilities are affected directly by your personal belief in them. Once you are confident in your own knowledge your abilities should be at a minimum as strong as they were, to begin with**."

"Yes," Joyce said. "In fact when I know what I am doing and why it actually costs me less energy to heal someone or something. So there is a valid reason to learn, it's just unfortunate that while I'm learning there are some things that I just can't do."

"From the reports," Tre'ma said. "Your men are responding like Jaffa who have lost their symbiote. I would think the obvious solution would be implanting them with one. I am unsure if the Tok'ra would be able to assist. But the Goa'uld originally created the Jaffa out of the Tau'ri so perhaps they would be able to make the men into Jaffa."

" **I am sorry** ," Anise said. " **But it would require a queen to help convert the Tau'ri to Jaffa. And none of the Tok'ra are queens. However, if the men were willing they could offer themselves as hosts. Currently, there are not that many Tok'ra who are in need of a new partner. But some may be willing to blend with them to save them. And there are some who have been put into stasis because we lacked a suitable host for them**."

"Currently," Tre'ma said. "We have managed to cause the queen that was found in the labs of the Initiative to breed. We have almost two hundred prim'ta available. But these prim'ta are different from normal Goa'uld. They are carrying the same abnormalities as the Queen. Kelmaa and Anise have studied them with us. We believe that they may actually represent a more primitive version of the Goa'uld."

"Do you mean that they are something similar to our own prehistoric ancestors?" Bones asked.

"I am unsure of what you mean," Tre'ma said. "Since humans actually were created by the Ancients and are descended from them, I do not think the comparison is valid. These creatures are obviously related to the Goa'uld. But their genetic codes have been altered. We already sent the first spawning back to Chulak. With the lack of prim'ta, we alway lose some of our children. If these work as normal Goa'uld work, we will be able to save all of our children. But our analysis of the creatures show they are actually more resilient than the Goa'uld. It is possible that they may be able to survive within a host that is not a Jaffa. Since they are immature, this should not put your men at risk, but it may save their lives."

"I believe most of the soldier would prefer that to becoming hosts to the Tok'ra," Janet said. "Anise I know that the Tok'ra have a different view of this, but I will present that as an option to the men. If any of them are willing to be a host for the Tok'ra I will let you know. I will also ask them if they would like to try Tre'ma's suggestion." Turning to Tre'ma, "If possible could you find out how the Jaffa who are using the new symbiotes are doing? We need to know if there were any complications or changes."

"I will find out what has happened," Tre'ma said. "We can also ask if there are any of our young ones who will volunteer for the new symbiotes, instead of the normal Prim'ta."

"Please do so," Janet said. "We are working on a deadline. By the middle of March, none of these men will have an immune system anymore."

The morning after Xander's big show all of the women in Sunnydale had seen Xander in all his glory. Xander had never been more grateful for his ability to orb, and for Faith. Being with her just made everything so right.

And he had to admit, she had a great sense of humor. If anyone had asked him before this morning he wouldn't have believed she was capable of the joke she had played on him. Xander and Faith had both gone to bed last night. Xander had found that sleeping while holding Faith was something very special, although it was also a bit frustrating. Faith liked to talk before going to sleep, which was fine. But when she was feeling naughty, she would start talking dirty, and once she had him revved up, she would kiss him goodnight, roll over and go to sleep.

This morning though had been different. Xander had been dreaming, when he felt someone shaking him. Slowly waking up he opened his eyes to see Jack staring down at him.

"Want to tell me why you're sleeping with my daughter," Jack asked. Jack looked like he was about to beat the hell out of Xander. "And more importantly how long have you been sleeping with her?"

Looking at Jack's face, Xander could see the man who had been a black ops specialist, Xander knew he had several options available. He could orb out, no way Jack could follow him. Or he could just stay and play the cards he had been dealt. Looking at the clock on the night stand he said, "Well about six hours, Jack."

"What," Jack asked, Xander's answer bewildered him.

"We've been asleep for about six hours," Xander explained. Watching, Xander could almost see a twinkle in his eyes. "If you're asking about how long we've been having sex, apart from the one time a few years ago we're not. Not that I'm not looking forward to that. But right now we just sleep together."

Faith had been pretending to sleep ever since Jack entered the room. She was honestly surprised that Xander hadn't freaked out. And his answers to her Dad had her starting to giggle.

"Ah for crying out loud," Jack complained, as Faith started to giggle. "Damn it Faith, now you've given the whole show away."

Xander looked at Jack and Faith, "So you were trying to fake me out?"

Faith turned towards Xander smiling she kissed him, "Hey, Dad wanted to play overprotective Father. And he promised me a leather jacket. Besides, I knew that anyone who could face down Angelus wouldn't have any problem facing down my Dad!"

From outside of the room Teal'c called out, "I believe this means that I have won the Pool, O'Neill."

"You bet on how I would react?" Xander asked.

Faith shook her head, "Not me, I didn't even know they had a pool going." Faith glared at her Dad. "Alright everyone except Xander out! We'll be down in a few minutes, then I want to hear about the pool."

Ten minutes later Xander and Faith came downstairs. Jack and SG-1 were sitting at the table along with Joyce and Giles. "OK I want to hear about this pool," Faith said. "And why wasn't I let in on the action?"

"We didn't tell you, Faith," Jack said. "Because we didn't want you to throw off the betting. Plus you're already getting a jacket so I think that's fair." Jack handed Faith a box and kissed her forehead. "Still, I was sure I could scare him enough to make him orb away." Jack glared at Xander.

Joyce laughed, "I told you Faith was too important to Xander for him to run away."

"Mom," Faith exclaimed. "You knew about this?"

"Who do you think let him in the house," Joyce asked arching an eyebrow. "And I'm happy to say that both Teal'c and I will be splitting the winnings."

"Indeed," Teal'c said. "I had no doubts that Alexander would stay beside Faith. He is a warrior."

"Really Xander," Giles said. "You had to choose this morning to prove how much you have grown up?"

Xander sputtered, "Dad? You bet against me?"

"I simply played the odds, I was sure you would orb at least out of the room. The fact that you stood your ground, whilst impressive, did cost me."

"I told you dear," Joyce said with a smile. "Xander would never leave Faith to deal with Jack alone."

"So how much are we talking here?" Faith asked.

Daniel smiled, "Once all the betting was done, Joyce and Teal'c will each end up with a thousand. Most of the people on the base were sure Jack could get Xander to orb away. Myself included." Turning towards Jack, Daniel said, "You must be losing your touch, Jack."

"Hey," Jack protested.

Samantha started to laugh, "I don't know sir," she said. "I mean what's the world going to do if Colonel Jack O'Neill can no longer inspire mindless fear in young men?"

"I don't know," Daniel said. "At least he can still annoy them."

"Hey," Jack said again as everyone started to laugh. "A bunch of comedians you're not!"

"Well at least we still have our day jobs," Samantha quipped.

The next several months had all of the Scoobies working on utilizing their new knowledge. The work to combine Asgard, Tok'ra and human technology was exhilarating. When Willow learned about the Tok'ra method of building using formed crystals, she immediately saw how they could use that to create the infrastructure of their new cities.

Bragi had assigned all of them projects to help incorporate their new knowledge. Cordelia had actually created a new type of computer that could be built on Earth. It was much more advanced than anything currently available. When she showed it to Jack and the Ambassadors, everyone was blown away.

Tara's work with Satellite systems would revolutionize the internet. And Xander had managed to fully repair the Enterprise. Utilizing the crystal technology Tau'ri already had the city developing. Tok'ra was a city unlike any other in the Galaxy. It was entirely built utilizing modified Tok'ra building crystals. The building and streets were all made of crystal and when the light hit them, they would glow. The new city had a permanent population of almost a thousand beings, not counting the members of the allied armed forces. The Scoobies had managed to round up all of the girls from project _Achilles_. This combined with the potentials they had saved from the watchers meant that on average there were three women on the island for every male. Luckily the presence of the base brought in a higher number of men than women, although every soldier on base knew that they would be in deep shit if they took advantage of any of the beautiful young women who lived on the island.

The British, Americans and Furlings were building their first joint starship. The Charles Napier. The Napier was built along the ideas of a current Aircraft Carrier. It was designed to be a self-contained city. Currently, it would not contain families, but it was hoped that eventually, it would act as the center of a fleet of ships. Its own crew consisted of almost ten thousand men and women from The US, and their British allies. Everyone knew that the ship would eventually be called on to fight the Goa'uld but they also planned for the Napier to be used for exploration. That meant it had to have the ability to feed itself and to create anything it might need while away from Earth. The ship's AI was actually capable of running itself, which was a good thing. Without the AI there would be no way for the crew to actually learn enough, fast enough to effectively fly him. His personality was based on General Sir Charles Napier, and like his namesake, he was uncompromising when it came to what he knew was right. Of course the fact that Xander had programmed most of his code meant he was also created with a sense of humor.

Even the Asgard were amazed at how quickly the Furlings had assimilated the base technology and adapted it. The ship would take less than two months for the hull to be completed and then another month for the interior to be done. Its maiden voyage would see not only the return of the Furlings as a power but the presence of the Humans as a true fifth race.

On Earth, the technologies that the Furlings had introduced were rapidly being accepted as part of everyday life. Cordelia's _Tablets_ had been a huge hit when they were shown at DragonCon. Their pre-orders already guaranteed that it would be a commercial success.

In Sunnydale, life was moving as normal, well not what used to be normal for Sunnydale. With the expansion of the Sunnydale Base, there were constant patrols utilizing Jaffa and military personnel who knew the truth about vampires and demons. While Buffy and Faith still patrolled, being the Slayer was no longer what it once was.

From the men who survived the Initiative, ten of them led by Riley Finn agreed to become hosts to Tok'ra symbiotes. The remaining men had been implanted with the prim'ta of the modified queen. The Jaffa had been amazed when the new prim'ta had healed the children they were placed in. Over the course of a month, the pouches had completely disappeared. Scans done by the medical personnel had revealed that the prim'ta had not only removed the pouch from the Jaffa children but what they did had also restored the children's immune system. The new symbiotes had taken up the same position a mature Goa'uld would take in a host. But currently, it looked like they were acting exactly like the symbiotes that had been found in Angleman's lab. They were connected to the host's brain but did not appear to be trying to take over. The new queen had been named Pandora by the Jaffa because she brought hope to their people. No longer would the Jaffa be forced to live hosting the Goa'uld. Pandora's children meant that they would be able to live without a symbiote. And once they confirmed that the changes were permanent any children born would no longer have the pouch. While many believed the words of Eir, there were other's who would not believe that until the first children were born without the pouch.

I would like to thank everyone who has helped me with this story. The story is not over but this chapter is. I have several more chapters in SG-1 Comes to Sunnydale. Which will expand and complete this. After those are done, I will be picking everything up with the First flight of The Napier. For time frame, this will be when Joyce is about eight and a half months pregnant. We also have Doyle and Fred to go. But that will continue in SG-1 Comes to Sunnydale.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++  
If anyone is wondering why I chose the name Napier, here is one of my favorite stories from his life

A story for which Napier is often noted involved Hindu priests complaining to him about the prohibition of Sati by British authorities. This was the custom of burning a widow alive on the funeral pyre of her husband. As first recounted by his brother William, he replied: _  
"Be it so. This burning of widows is your custom; prepare the funeral pile. But my nation has also a custom. When men burn women alive we hang them and confiscate all their property. My carpenters shall, therefore, erect gibbets on which to hang all concerned when the widow is consumed. Let us all act according to national customs._

You can read more about him at wiki/Charles_James_Napier


End file.
